Absolutely Fabulous

Absolutely Fabulous
Title card (2011–2012)
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jennifer Saunders Dawn French (original sketch)
Starring	Jennifer Saunders Joanna Lumley Julia Sawalha June Whitfield Jane Horrocks
Opening theme	"This Wheel's on Fire" performed by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmondson, later by Deborah Harry and Adrian Edmondson.
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	5 (+ 8 specials)
No. of episodes	39 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Video (on set, 1992–2012) Film (on location, series 1–3); Multiple camera
Running time	30–60 minutes
Production company(s)	Saunders & French Productions BBC Productions BBC America (2011–12) Logo (2011–12)
Release
Original network	BBC2 (series 1) BBC One (series 2 onwards)
Picture format	576i (4:3 SDTV) (1992–96) 576i (16:9 SDTV) (2001–04) 1080i (16:9 HDTV) (2011–12)
Audio format	Stereo (1992–2005) Dolby Digital 5.1 (2011–12)
Original release	Original series: 12 November 1992 – 7 November 1996 Revived series: 31 August 2001 – 25 December 2004 20th anniversary specials: 25 December 2011 – 23 July 2012
External links
Website

Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a BBC television sitcom created by, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders. It is based on a 1990 French & Saunders sketch created by Saunders and Dawn French.

The series features Saunders as Edina Monsoon, a heavy-drinking, drug-abusing PR agent who spends her time chasing bizarre fads in a desperate attempt to stay young and "hip". Edina is joined in her quest by magazine editor Patsy Stone (played by Joanna Lumley), her best friend and enabler, whose drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and promiscuity far eclipse Edina's comparatively mild self-destructive behaviour. Despite being a middle-aged, twice-divorced career woman, Edina is reliant upon the support of her daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha), a secondary school pupil (and later university student) whose constant care of her mother has left her a bitter cynic. The series also stars June Whitfield as Edina's sarcastic and thieving mother, and Jane Horrocks as Edina's brainless personal assistant.

Absolutely Fabulous returned for three special episodes which were originally broadcast on 25 December 2011, 1 January 2012 and 23 July 2012 to mark the show's 20th anniversary. The episode broadcast on 23 July 2012 featured the 2012 Summer Olympics which were being held in London that week. A film based on the series was released to theatres on 1 July 2016. On 28 November 2016, Jennifer Saunders announced that the series is finished.

The show has had an extended and sporadic run. The first three series were broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1995, followed by a series finale in the form of a two-part television film entitled The Last Shout in 1996. Creator Jennifer Saunders revived the show for a fourth series in 2001, after having written and submitted a pilot entitled Mirrorball, which recruited nearly all of the original cast in new roles. The pilot was intended to be turned into a series of episodes. However, Saunders felt the characters were far too rich and interesting to put aside, and were far better suited for her new story ideas. Instead of Mirrorball, a new series of Absolutely Fabulous was proposed to the BBC, which later commissioned the fourth series in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, two full series were produced, along with three one-off hour-long specials; Gay (retitled and issued as Absolutely Fabulous in New York for the United States) in 2002, Cold Turkey, a Christmas special in 2003, and White Box (another series finale), which aired in 2004. A Comic Relief sketch was broadcast in 2005.