About Absolutely Fabulous
Think hard about the people in your life. Somewhere in the dark recesses of your mind you'll probably recall a bonkers woman with a bizarre dress sense... and what about that ditzy blonde with a drink surgically attached to her hand? That's your Edina and Patsy - the wealthy, immature monsters in your family you try to avoid...
Fashion-obsessed adults-living-as-teenagers best friends Edina "Eddy" Monsoon and Patsy Stone inhabit the world of Absolutely Fabulous, the British comedy that gave birth to numerous catchphrases - not to mention fancy dress costumes.
The show burst onto our screens in 1992 in a riot of neon opening credits to the raucous sound of Wheels On Fire, featuring the vocals of Adrian Edmondson; the real-life husband to one of the show's creators, Jennifer Saunders, who plays Eddy.
Saunders co-stars alongside Joanna Lumley as Patsy; Julia Sawalha as geeky and long-suffering daughter Saffy; June Whitfield as Eddy's batty mother; and Jane Horrocks, who plays dippy assistant Bubbles.
Eddy and Patsy are obsessed with fads, fashion and staying thin. They drink too much, take copious amounts of drugs and generally misbehave; with the underlying fear of that incurable illness - growing old!
Fame and style are king, while responsible parenting is out of the door; often, Saffy plays mum to Eddy's neurotic episodes with a suitably disapproving and dour attitude. Patsy acts as Eddy's constant sidekick (and bad influence) throughout all their adventures and mishaps, adding a very physical aspect to the comedy of Absolutely Fabulous.
Many of the laughs come from them falling out of taxis headfirst under the influence of one thing or another, or stumbling home - usually with Eddy sliding on her belly down the stairs to the trendy basement kitchen.
Absolutely Fabulous - or Ab Fab, as it is affectionately known - has stood the test of time as, although a sharp pastiche on the world of fashion and celebrity that was London at the time it was first aired on the BBC in the early Nineties, its sentiments still ring true today, perhaps even more so than ever before.