# Absolutely Fabulous (1992)

> Two hedonistic fashion-world women drive their sensible daughter to despair in this cult British satire of excess and vanity.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4273

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 34
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders
- Network: BBC One, BBC Two
- Cast: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks, Celia Imrie, Kate O'Mara, James Dreyfus
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105929/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: cruel, campy, brash, irreverent, cynical

## What critics say

Audiences rate the show as acclaimed, prizing its sharp, outrageous comedy and the chemistry of its leads as a cult favourite.

## Synopsis

Absolutely Fabulous (1992-2012) is a British satirical sitcom created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders for BBC One and BBC Two. Jennifer Saunders plays Edina Monsoon, an immature, fun-loving publicist whose constant drinking, drug use and selfishness keep her in trouble, and Joanna Lumley plays her best friend Patsy Stone, an equally vain fashion-world figure who is always one scandal away from disaster. Julia Sawalha plays Edina's sensible daughter Saffron, whose exasperation with her mother and Patsy provides much of the show's friction, while June Whitfield appears as Edina's mother. The engine of each episode is the duo's relentless pursuit of status, parties, and image in the glossy London fashion and public relations world, and the damage their schemes cause to everyone around them. Across six seasons of short, self-contained episodes, the series builds its comedy on cutting one-liners, physical farce and cruel humour. Its tone is brash, campy and unapologetically cynical, with a glossy veneer over a bleak awareness of vanity. Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Thick of It and Girls will find resonance in its cringe comedy and its portrait of self-absorbed women who refuse to change. Its cult status in Britain and abroad comes from its razor-sharp satire of celebrity culture and its fearless willingness to be unlikeable.

## Shows like Absolutely Fabulous

- [Breeders (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/78918)
- [Flowers (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58425)
- [Little Britain (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/354)
- [Spaced (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/706)
- [Not Going Out (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/1309)
- [Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/1886)
- [Keeping Up Appearances (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/27)
- [Father Ted (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/1710)
- [Steptoe and Son (1962)](https://ember.film/tv/3171)
- [The Fast Show (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/2410)

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