12 November: Absolutely Fabulous

On this date in 1992, Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, first broadcast on the BBC. 10 things you might not know about the show:

1. The idea was first aired as a sketch on French & Saunders called Modern Mother and Daughter, which aired in 1990. featured the characters that would later become known as Eddy and Saffy, with Dawn French playing the role of Saffy. Jennifer’s character in this is called Adrianna, a play on her husband, Adrian Edmonson’s, name. Eddy is also an adaptation of his name. 
2. Adrian Edmonson’s voice can be heard in the theme tune, which is a re-working of Julie Driscoll’s version of Bob Dylan’s Wheels on Fire.
3. Patsy's full name is Eurydice Colette Clytemnestra Dido Bathsheba Rabelais Patricia Cocteau Stone.
4. Julia Sawalha, who plays Eddy’s daughter Saffy, is just 10 years younger than Jennifer.
5. Jane Horrocks originally auditioned to play Saffy, but ended up with the role of Eddy’s assistant, Bubble, which was adapted from the original concept of a dumb posh Sloane ranger type to suit her. The clothes Bubble wears may look ridiculous but they are all based on the very newest ideas in magazines.
6. We never find out the first name of Eddy’s mother, played by June Whitfield. She is credited as "Mother" and addressed as "Gran" by Saffron and "Mrs M" by Patsy. Edina only ever addresses her as "Mum" once, usually referring to her as "old woman" or some such derisive phrase.
7. All five of the main actresses names begin with the letter "J": Jennifer, Joanna, Julia, Jane and June.
8. The show was hard to sell in the US. Most TV execs rejected it, even though they loved it, because Eddy and Patsy were bad role models. However, it was eventually picked up by Comedy Central in 1994. There were a couple of attempts to create a US re-make, but neither ever happened. In the 90s, Roseanne Barr wanted to produce a US version with Carrie Fisher and Barbara Carrera as Eddy and Patsy. In 2008, another attempt was made with Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Johnston set to play the lead roles.
9. Edina refuses to wear clothes in her size, always wearing things two sizes smaller. Hence Jennifer Saunders has said that her main memory of playing her was of wearing painful clothes and shoes.
10. Idris Elba had his first speaking part in the episode Sex, in which Patsy compares him to Sean Connery. 

Character birthday

Metal Mistress, a genetic variant with the ability to manipulate metal objects. She is a friend of Hurricane, who she met at university. The pair bonded first as they both had Christian parents who’d imposed strict rules, and later discovered they both had powers as well.