Jane Horrocks says 'Absolutely Fabulous' would not get made today
Jane Horrocks has said she does not believe Absolutely Fabulous would get the greenlight in today’s woke world.
The 56-year-old actress played Edina Monsoon’s ditsy personal assistant Bubble in the hit BBC sitcom which ran for five series between 1992 and 2012, and was written by and starring Jennifer Saunders, with Joanna Lumley as her hedonistic best friend Patsy Stone.
Horrocks told The Sun: “When Jennifer started writing Ab Fab, in the first few series nobody bothered her at all. She had free rein to write what she wanted and there were no producers who interfered with her work.
“They didn’t say, ‘You can’t write that’, or, ‘You have to write that’. I think that she personally would have a very different experience writing for today’s television because I don’t think she would be allowed free rein.
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“I think Jennifer might struggle with the restrictions she would have to adhere to.”
Watch: How to Make an Absolutely Fabulous Cocktail (Inspired by the ‘Ab Fab’ Ladies, of Course)
Comedy Ab Fab was a parody of the London fashion scene and celebrity culture, starring public relations agent Edina Monsoon who partied hard with her fashion editor pal Patsy, while her daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha) lived a stoical existence in reaction to her mother’s wild lifestyle.
Storylines included Patsy having briefly lived life as a transgender man after undergoing a sex change operation in Morocco, Edina adopting a Romanian baby on a whim and her being delighted at having a mixed race grandchild because she saw it as a fashion accessory.
The comedy also made a running joke of Patsy’s drug and alcohol addiction.
Horrocks’ character Bubble was a parody of a vacuous PA and the actress admitted to the The Sun she may these days be cut out for being a stereotype.
The actress is currently starring opposite David Morrissey in ITV’s new period drama The Singapore Grip.
