Official poster for Absolutely Fabulous

Scripted series · BBC One

Absolutely Fabulous

Darling!

7.6IMDb189 votesWorth your time
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1992 – 20126 seasons · 34 episodes~30 min per episodeTV-PGEnded
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The Nutevio profile

TV DNA

How Absolutely Fabulous actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.

Signature profile

Absolutely Fabulous reads strongest on Humour, Character Depth and Bingeability.

HumourStrong6.5

How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.

Character DepthStrong5.8

How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.

BingeabilityStrong5.5

How hard it is to stop after one episode.

SerializedPresent4.5

How much each hour depends on the one before it.

Cliffhanger IntensityPresent4.0

How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.

TensionPresent4.0

The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.

Emotional WeightLight3.8

How much the series is designed to affect you.

SpectacleLight3.5

Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.

World BuildingLight3.5

The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.

The story

What it's about

Set in the world of fashion and PR, immature fun-loving mother Edina Monsoon and her best friend Patsy drive Eddie's sensible daughter, Saffron, up the wall with their constant drug abuse and outrageous selfishness. Numerous in-jokes and heavy doses of cruel humour have made this series a cult hit in the UK and abroad.

The run

Seasons

6 seasons · 34 episodes.

  • Official poster for Specials

    Season 0 · Complete

    Specials

    199638 episodes

    Prior to the third series, a dramatized behind-the-scenes special was broadcast on 6 January 1995. The special was titled 'How to Be Absolutely Fabulous' and featured Jennifer Saunders as she enters the BBC studio in which the woman at reception is unaware of who Saunders is. Unable to convince the receptionist that she is in fact Edina for the series, Saunders, along with the camera crew runs up to the Absolutely Fabulous office, despite being refused access from the receptionist. Once in the office, Saunders talks about the origins of the series. The special features clips from the series. A second special, released in 1998 and titled 'Absolutely Fabulous: A Life' features Edina and her mother as she and a camera crew are filming the story of Edina's life in a documentary. The setting for the documentary is in the charity shop in which her mother works. Edina talks about her surroundings in the charity shop.

    Best episode · S00E06 Cold Turkey

  • Official poster for Series 1

    Season 1 · Complete

    Series 1

    19926 episodes

    7.7IMDb

    The first series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC Two on 12 November 1992 and concluded on 17 December 1992, consisting of six episodes. The sitcom was created and written by Jennifer Saunders, who starred in the title role of Edina Monsoon, Edina is nicknamed 'Eddie' by her best friend, Patsy Stone, a magazine editor who constantly takes advantage of Edina by living the life of luxury in Edina's extravagant home. Edina is a twice-divorced mother of two. Her eldest child, a son, Serge, left home many years before in order to escape his mother's clutches. Her long-suffering daughter, Saffron 'Saffy', whom Edina is reliant upon, is a sixth form student and remains at home. The series also includes Edina's sweet-natured-but-slightly-batty mother, whom Edina sees as an interfering burden, and Edina's dim-witted assistant Bubble.

    Best episode · S01E03 France

  • Official poster for Series 2

    Season 2 · Complete

    Series 2

    19946 episodes

    7.6IMDb

    The second series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 27 January 1994 and concluded on 10 March 1994, consisting of six episodes.

    Best episode · S02E02 Death

  • Official poster for Series 3

    Season 3 · Complete

    Series 3

    19956 episodes

    7.8IMDb

    The third series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 30 March 1995 and concluded on 11 May 1995, consisting of six episodes. The third series was originally intended to be the final series of Absolutely Fabulous. However, the following year, Jennifer Saunders decided to write a two-part special titled "The Last Shout", serving as an official finale to the third series. Two additional series were eventually produced. Guest stars for this series include Rebecca Front, Kate O'Mara, Celia Imrie, Naomi Campbell, Helen Lederer, Kathy Burke and Ruby Wax.

    Best episode · S03E06 The End

  • Official poster for Series 4

    Season 4 · Complete

    Series 4

    20016 episodes

    7.7IMDb

    The fourth series of British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 31 August 2001 and concluded on 5 October 2001, consisting of six episodes. Originally, Absolutely Fabulous was to end with the third series, then two-part special "The Last Shout" was created to serve as an official finale to the series. However, in 2000, Jennifer Saunders created and wrote a television pilot for a proposed new series, Mirrorball, in which she intended to reunite the cast of Absolutely Fabulous in new roles and a different plot. Saunders, along with Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks and June Whitfield, returned for the pilot, but the series was never commissioned. Nevertheless, Mirrorball inspired Saunders to revive Absolutely Fabulous and a fourth series was produced.

    Best episode · S04E05 Small Opening

  • Official poster for Series 5

    Season 5 · Complete

    Series 5

    20037 episodes

    7.5IMDb

    The fifth and final series of the British television sitcom Absolutely Fabulous premiered on BBC One on 17 October 2003 and concluded on 28 November 2003, consisting of seven episodes. 2 Christmas specials, "Cold Turkey" and "White Box", followed the fifth series and were broadcast in 2003 and 2004. Though no further series have followed, three specials were broadcast several years later to mark the show's 20th anniversary for 2012.

    Best episode · S05E03 Panickin'

  • Official poster for 20th Anniversary Specials

    Season 6 · Complete

    20th Anniversary Specials

    20113 episodes

    8.1IMDb

    The 20th Anniversary Specials (also known as Ab Fab at 20) are a set of three special episodes, broadcast on BBC One between 25 December 2011 and 23 July 2012.

    Best episode · S06E02 Job

Where the series peaks

Best Episodes

The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

Still from The End

S03E06

The End

8.4IMDb9 votes

Edina joins a New Age commune, but struggles to fit in and quickly becomes bored. Patsy is disillusioned with her new job in New York due to creative differences with her colleagues. Saffy settles into uni life and Mother spends her days at the house, drinking and ordering from the shopping channel. After realising that their lives are not the same without each other, Edina and Patsy happily reunite on top of Carnegie Hall Tower before returning to London.

11 May 199530 min
Still from Job

S06E02

Job

8.3IMDb6 votes

When Saffy berates Edina for being lazy and incompetent, Edina and Patsy decide to impress her by booking her favourite French film star, Jeanne Durand, to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. However, they're dismayed when Jeanne lip-syncs instead of singing live.

1 Jan 201230 min
Still from Death

S02E02

Death

8.3IMDb9 votes

When Edina's father dies, a grief-stricken Saffy is horrified by her mother's apathy. However, once she realises her own mortality, Edina purchases expensive artwork, which she plans to leave behind when she dies. Marshall visits with his new grief-counsellor girlfriend, Sondra, who panics upon discovering that the corpse is to be placed in Edina's living room for the wake. Despite being banned by Saffy from attending the funeral, Edina shows up anyway, taking Patsy along.

3 Feb 199430 min
Still from Sex

S03E03

Sex

8.2IMDb13 votes

Patsy convinces Edina to hire two male prostitutes for an orgy on the night of Saffy's uni presentation. However, Edina is unable to loosen up, and the prostitutes are not particularly enthused, either. Patsy attempts to enliven the mood by playing a video of an orgy from their youth, only to find that it has been inadvertently switched with a tape of Saffy's school project.

20 Apr 199530 min
Still from Identity

S06E01

Identity

8.2IMDb6 votes

Edina collects Saffy from prison, where she served two years for (unknowingly) providing asylum seekers with forged passports. Saffy later invites former cellmate Baron to the house, unaware that Baron was once Patsy's drug dealer and Patsy still owes her £50,000. And now Baron refuses to leave until she's repaid.

25 Dec 201130 min
Still from France

S01E03

France

8.1IMDb10 votes

Edina and Patsy holiday in France, where they find themselves staying in a rustic cottage, rather than the château they were expecting. There is no food or wine, and the duo are constantly disturbed by an old man whose French they cannot understand. They're later rescued by Saffy, who arrives with supplies, and Bubble, who tags along to deliver an urgent message concerning Edina's home decorating business, but she forgets about it.

26 Nov 199230 min

Recently aired

Latest Episodes

Still from Joanna and Jennifer: Absolutely Champers

S00E53

Joanna and Jennifer: Absolutely Champers

21 Dec 201725 min
Still unavailable

S00E51

Absolutely Fabulous - TV Bloopers (Series 1-5 and Gay)

8.0IMDb1 votes
4 Mar 201315 min
Still unavailable

S00E29

Olympics

23 Jul 201230 min
Still from Olympics

S06E03

Olympics

7.7IMDb6 votes
23 Jul 201230 min
Still unavailable

S00E28

Sport Relief

23 Mar 201230 min

Behind the series

Created by

Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

The craft

Key Crew

Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.

Executive production

Writing

Direction

Where to watch

Streaming

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