Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders look worlds apart from Ab Fab

No Bolly here, sweetie! Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders look worlds apart from their brash and boozy Absolutely Fabulous characters 30 years on

Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders looked worlds apart from their brash and boozy Absolutely Fabulous characters as they celebrated 30 years since its first ever episode aired.

The actresses are well-known for starring as Bollinger-drinking best pals Edina ‘Eddy’ Monsoon and Patsy Stone in the beloved sitcom, which focused on the relationship between Edina and her uptight daughter Saffron, played by Julia Sawalha.

But they looked strikingly different from the boisterous characters, known for their extravagant and boozy antics, as they were spotted out-and-about on Friday – 30 years since the cultural phenomenon first appeared on screens.


Sweetie darling! Stepping out a day before the 30th anniversary of Ab Fab’s first ever episode, Jennifer Saunders, 64, cut a casual figure in blue jeans and a forest green shirt, which she styled with black boots


Darling! Meanwhile Joanna Lumley, who played her on-screen best pal in the comedy, looked effortlessly chic as she was spotted elsewhere in a London Sainsbury’s doing a spot of shopping – not quite the usual antics of chain-smoking Patsy


Sitcom days: Elsewhere, Jane Horrocks – who played the role of Eddy’s personal assistant Bubble and her cousin Katy Grin in Ab Fab – was seen out for a bike ride in Brighton

Stepping out a day before the 30th anniversary of Ab Fab’s first ever episode, Jennifer, 64, cut a casual figure in blue jeans and a forest green shirt, which she styled with black boots.

She kept warm amid the chilly autumnal temperatures in a grey jacket and scarf as she stepped out to walk her pet whippet Olive, who was wrapped in a blue jumper, in London.

The comedian looked worlds apart from her beloved drug-popping character Edina Monsoon, who had signature brunette curled locks, as she wore her blonde tresses in a choppy bob.

Meanwhile Joanna, who played her on-screen best pal in the comedy, looked effortlessly chic as she was spotted elsewhere in a London Sainsbury’s doing a spot of shopping – not quite the usual antics of chain-smoking Patsy.


30 years on: Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders looked worlds apart from their brash and boozy Absolutely Fabulous characters as they celebrated 30 years since its first ever episode

Iconic: The actresses are well-known for starring as Bollinger-drinking best pals Edina ‘Eddy’ Monsoon and Patsy Stone in the beloved sitcom, which focused on the relationship between Edina and her uptight daughter Saffron, played by Julia Sawalha

The actress, 76, looked stylish in black striped trousers and a navy blue jumper, which she styled with a burnt orange gilet and black slip-on shoes.

She wore her platinum tresses loosely in a straight fashion and bolstered her natural beauty with a light dusting of make-up.

Joanna appeared to be in jovial spirits as she flashed a huge smile, stepping out 30 years after high-glamour character Patsy first appeared on screens.

Elsewhere, Jane Horrocks – who played the role of Eddy’s personal assistant Bubble and her cousin Katy Grin in Ab Fab – was seen out for a bike ride in Brighton.

Throwback: But they looked strikingly different from the boisterous characters, known for their extravagant and boozy antics, as they were spotted out-and-about on Friday – 30 years since the cultural phenomenon first appeared on screen


‘Couple of weeks I’ll be bendy like Madonna, darling!’ She kept warm amid the chilly autumnal temperatures in a grey jacket and scarf as she stepped out to walk her pet whippet Olive, who was wrapped in a blue jumper, in London

The star, 58, cut a laidback figure in grey jeans and a patterned grey and blue T-shirt, which she teamed with a dusty blue rain jacket during her outing.

She kept comfortable in a pair of grey trainers and tucked her blonde fringed tresses under a silver cycling helmet, while she kept her essentials in a patterned bum bag.

The first ever episode of Ab Fab appeared on screens on November 12, 1992, and quickly became a beloved British classic as viewers couldn’t get enough of Patsy and Eddy’s antics.

Ab Fab originally ran on the BBC from 1992 to 1995 and was revived from 2001 to 2004. It has returned for a number of special episodes and Comic Relief sketches.

Shopping: Joanna appeared to be in jovial spirits as she flashed a huge smile, stepping out 30 years after high-glamour character Patsy first appeared on screens

Bike ride: The star, 58, cut a laidback figure in grey jeans and a patterned grey and blue T-shirt, which she teamed with a dusty blue rain jacket during her outing

30th anniversary of Ab Fab: She kept comfortable in a pair of grey trainers and tucked her blonde fringed tresses under a silver cycling helmet, while she kept her essentials in a patterned bum bag

A big-screen version of the hit sitcom, which was originally based on the French and Saunders sketch Modern Mother and Daughter, was released in 2016.

The sitcom’s comedy mostly rode on the fractiousness between Edina and her uptight daughter Saffron, played by Julia Sawalha. Eddy often found herself torn between her best friend Patsy and the disapproving Saffy.

The show also featured Jane Horrocks as PR maven Eddy’s madcap assistant Bubble, and the late June Whitfield as Eddy’s mother.

June’s last appearance in the franchise was, like the rest of the cast, in the 2016 big screen adaption, in which Eddy and Patsy were forced to flee the country after nearly killing Kate Moss.

Comedy: The sitcom rode on the fractiousness between Edina and her uptight daughter Saffron, played by Julia Sawalha. Eddy often found herself torn between her best friend Patsy and the disapproving Saffy

June died in December 2018, two years after Jennifer insisted she was ‘done’ with Ab Fab. 

Despite a positive reaction to the film, and rumblings of a sequel, she told the Daily Mail in late 2016: ‘I’m not doing anything more with Ab Fab. That’s it. That. Is. It. I can’t see the point of doing anything else with it, really.’

Yet, in October 2018, she told an audience at Cheltenham Literature Festival that the idea of continuing Ab Fab was ‘always on my mind, always’.

She said: ‘I am thinking at the moment of writing a little something. It has to be age-appropriate otherwise we’d have to be in wheelchairs basically. I think Julia is old enough to be my mother now.’

Classic: The first ever episode of Ab Fab appeared on screens on November 12, 1992, and quickly became a beloved British classic as viewers couldn’t get enough of Patsy and Eddy’s antics

She also touched upon political correctness at the time, saying: ‘I think it is harder to write what we used to write because there is just always someone tutting in the back of your mind. ‘Oh what do you think? Don’t you think someone might be offended?’ It is very tiring!’

In June 2021, Jennifer once again said that the new ‘woke’ mind-set has changed comedy and people now ‘talk themselves out’ of telling any jokes that might be considered controversial. 

‘Yes I think it has changed comedy like what we used to make. I think we would probably talk ourselves out of most of it now,’ she said during a talk at the Garrick Theatre. ‘It would be like, ‘We won’t have a good answer so let’s not do that.’

‘I think people do talk themselves out of stuff now because everything is sensitive in a funny way and what could be made to seem sensitive and it stops a lot of the fun maybe like jokes. I remember jokes. Silly jokes and stuff.’ 

Popular: Ab Fab originally ran on the BBC from 1992 to 1995 and was revived from 2001 to 2004. It has returned for a number of special episodes and Comic Relief sketches

She said that when she first started her comedy act French and Saunders alongside Dawn French, it was a reaction to some of the more old-fashioned comedians who were considered ‘sexist and racist.’

She said: ‘I do think people are more wary of what they say and do now, certainly.

‘And probably some of it is not bad as when we started as alternative comedians it was a sort of a reaction against the mainstream comedians who were considered sexist and racist.

‘There is always a backlash against stuff.’ The writer and actress said that it’s ‘not a crime to have an opinion’ but it is starting to become so in modern society.

Film: A big-screen version of the hit sitcom, which was originally based on the French and Saunders sketch Modern Mother and Daughter, was released in 2016

She said: ‘What p***** me off? Quite a lot of stuff actually. I get p***** off by people and gentle criticism all the time. This is a modern thing isn’t it?

‘If someone says something it always has to be, ‘Oh, but sorry. You can’t say that.’ I say, ‘Oh f*** off.’ 

‘It’s not a crime to have an opinion or say something. It is always so petty and small mindedness p***** me off, bigotry and small mindedness.’ 

Joanna, 75, said at the end of 2020 that the future of Ab Fab was entirely in Jennifer’s hands and to ‘wait and see’.

Endings: The show also featured Jane Horrocks as PR maven Eddy’s madcap assistant Bubble, and the late June Whitfield as Eddy’s mother. June died in 2018

The show was developed from a sketch Jennifer wrote with her long-term comedy partner Dawn French in 1990, titled Modern Mother And Daughter.

The basis of the sketch became the premise for Ab Fab, which ran for three series until its supposed two-part finale The Last Shout in 1996. However, it was rebooted for a fourth run in 2001 and a fifth season was made in 2004.

Several one-offs followed, with the last TV episode to date airing in the summer of 2012, focusing on Eddy hosting Micheal Douglas at her house for the London Olympics.

The film followed in 2016 and this is, to date, the last fans have had of the franchise.

Will it return? Joanna said at the end of 2020 that the future of Ab Fab was entirely in Jennifer’s hands and to ‘wait and see’

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