Joanna Lumley Movies

Edina (Jennifer Saunders) moves into a commune but chafes at the paternalistic attitudes of the charlatans who run it; she spends her time impatiently waiting for her turn with "the talking stick," dejected over her separation from best friend Patsy (Joanna Lumley). Pats, meanwhile, finds that her well-worn fashion-world aphorisms don't fly in straight-talking New York. Professional ally Magda (Kathy Burke) sympathizes but offers no help, leaving Pats to the tender mercies of fashion barracudas Candy (Ruby Wax), Gina (Suzanne Bertish), and Sante (Sean Chapman). After chance encounters with a trio of transvestites and with Bo (Mo Gaffney) -- the sometime girlfriend of Eddy's ex-husband, Marshall -- Pats wanders up to the rooftop of the magazine to smoke and think. Suddenly a helicopter flies by, a familiar face waving from the passenger seat, and soon the world doesn't seem so terrible anymore. After the closing credits, a 25-years-later epilogue then provides a glimpse into the future exploits of Pats, Eddy, Gran, and Saffy. Originally broadcast on BBC1 on May 11, 1995, Absolutely Fabulous: The End marked series three, episode six of this popular Brit-com. The next installment would be the 1996 two-part TV movie Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout; regular episodes would not appear again until series four in 2001. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

At a posh public-relations awards show, Edina (Jennifer Saunders) guzzles champagne with Patsy (Joanna Lumley), bosses Bubble (Jane Horrocks) around, chats up supermodel Naomi Campbell, and prepares to take home a prize. She's beaten to the punch, however, by Claudia (Celia Imrie), her pretentious, politically correct professional arch nemesis. Commiserating later at home with Saffy (Julia Sawalha), Mother (June Whitfield), and Pats, Eddy reveals that she had rigged the awards in her own favor, thus rendering her defeat even more ignominious. Terrified that she'll lose her tenuous hold on her career, Edina creeps into Claudia's celebrity liposuction-a-thon in hopes of bagging Campbell for one of her own celebrity events. Later, at an industry luncheon, she loses her prepared remarks but gives a drunken speech anyway, slagging off the PR industry's parasitical piggy-backing on noble causes such as environmentalism. Eddy's rallying cry against doom-and-gloom marketing -- "Cheer up, because it might not bloody happen!" -- becomes a sensation, and soon she's bagging new clients right and left. Meanwhile, Saffy gets hot and heavy -- for her, anyway -- with Gerard (Simon Stokes), her college psychology lecturer. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on April 27, 1995, Absolutely Fabulous: Jealous marked series three, episode four of this popular Brit-com. Campbell guest-stars as herself in a send-up of the inane schemes to which hangers-on constantly subject the supermodel elite. Although she doesn't appear on camera, real-life singer Lulu, who is supposedly Edina's biggest client, can be heard announcing one of the PR awards. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

While Saffy Monsoon (Julia Sawalha) mourns the death of her grandfather, her mother, Edina (Jennifer Saunders), is too busy mourning the failure of her latest weight-loss program: a bizarre scheme in which she is slathered in mud and then mummified for several hours. Gran (June Whitfield) handles her husband's death with typical aplomb, but Eddy goes way over the edge as soon as she has time to ponder her own mortality. Filled with self-centered dread, she goes on an art shopping spree at a snooty gallery and then bristles as the guests at her father's wake mistake an expensive mobile for what it is: a set of coat hangers. Ex-husband Marshall (Christopher Ryan) and his new grief-counselor girlfriend, Sondra (Gwen Humble), try to cheer the family up, but when Sondra realizes there's a corpse in the house she completely freaks out. Eddy and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) freak out, too, getting rip-roaringly drunk as the rest of the funeral party proceeds to the cemetary. Waxing sentimental, Patsy begs Eddy to give her the house when she's gone, and Eddy agrees -- as long as Pats will accompany her to the graveyard. Unfortunately, neither woman is in any shape to navigate the rough boneyard terrain, and Mr. Monsoon's funeral ends much like any other family event: grotesquely. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on February 3, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Death marked series two, episode two of this popular Brit-com. Llewella Gideon reprises her role as the wise-cracking West Indian nurse who originally appeared in the previous episode, Absolutely Fabulous: Hospital. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Saffron (Julia Sawalha) cautions her mother to economize in gentle preparation for the revelation by Edina's accountant that she's been cut off by both of her ex-husbands; as revealed in series one's Absolutely Fabulous: Birthday, Edina's been double-dipping, and Justin and Marshall aren't having it. Unaware that she's actually got plenty of investments to support herself and refusing to sell either one of her sham businesses -- the joke PR firm or the tax-shelter knick-knack shop -- Edina (Jennifer Saunders) opts instead for reducing her monthly expenses. Deprived of her daily deliveries from tony department store Harrods, she and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) attempt to mount a trip to the grocery store in the "economy" car that's replaced the limo -- a two-seat sports car. The results of this expedition include assault, battery, robbery, pubic drunkenness, traffic violations, a trip to court, and a course of public service. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on March 3, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Poor marked series two, episode five of this popular Brit-com. Christopher Malcolm reprises his role as Eddy's gay ex-husband, Justin, in an appearance that includes a memorable joke about "going through the motions" of marriage. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

After a dalliance with a government official, Patsy (Joanna Lumley) becomes embroiled in a tabloid sex scandal and is irate to see her true age reported nationally. "Borrowing" the Monsoon house for an interview with Hello magazine, she is disappointed to learn that photos for the spread won't be shot until the following week. However, when Edina (Jennifer Saunders) stubs her toe and enters the hospital for minor surgery, Pats takes the opportunity to accompany her and undergo a quick face peel. Finding the accommodations less than deluxe and ridiculed by a pair of wise-cracking nurses (Llewella Gideon and Orla Brady), Edina pops painkillers like candy and falls into a disturbing fugue in which her friends and family appear to her in the guise of British celebrities, from Helena Bonham-Carter to Germaine Greer -- both of whom have been the subject of ridicule on previous episodes. Awakening from her dreams to find that her surgery has already been completed, Eddy learns that her injuries were even more minor than they appeared; Patsy's face peel, however, doesn't generate quite such a happy outcome, nor does her debut in the pages of Hello. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on January 27, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Hospital marked series two, episode one of this popular Brit-com. Suzi Quatro, Mandy Rice-Davies, Richard E. Grant, and Sylvia Anderson joined Bonham-Carter and Greer in the cast of cameo stars. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Although she's trying to launch a new interior decorating venture, Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) decides to take a vacation in the French countryside with Patsy (Joanna Lumley). The pair become lost in Provence, then must suffer through their holiday in a second-class cottage, bored out of their minds. Unable to speak French -- or to find provisions in the nearby town -- they become convinced that the old Frenchman who keeps knocking on their door means no good. The terrified, hungry women soon summon Saffron (Julia Sawalha), who arrives with supplies and Bubble (Jane Horrocks) in tow. In the haze of long walks, table tennis, and cocktails, the dim-witted PA quickly forgets about the papers that Edina needs to sign in order to save her decorating scheme. When Bubble finally presents the papers to her employer, Edina loses it, rushing back to London just in time to get nabbed by customs for the suspicious white powder stashed in Patsy's purse. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on November 26, 1992, Absolutely Fabulous: France marked series one, episode three of this popular Brit-com. Eddy and Pats would take several more holidays in subsequent installments, including Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco and Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

When Edina (Jennifer Saunders) takes up with her first boyfriend in ages, Patsy (Joanna Lumley) finds her role in her best friend's life suddenly reduced even though she's recently moved into the Monsoon household. Even worse, she actually has to show up at work for once -- to attend a meeting with fast-talking editor Magda (Kathy Burke); dim, ornamental staffers Catriona (Helen Lederer) and Fleur (Harriet Thorpe); and the ridiculously erudite gourmand Hamish (Adrian Edmondson). Suckered into giving a pair of fashion nobodies a makeover on a chat show hosted by unassuming everywoman Kathy (Dawn French), Pats makes a Faustian pact with Saffron (Julia Sawalha): If Saf and Gran (June Whitfield) will become her sartorial guinea pigs, she'll move back into her own flat and she won't try to destroy Eddy's new romance. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on December 10, 1992, Absolutely Fabulous: Magazine marked series one, episode five of this popular Brit-com. French, who co-created the original sketch on which "AbFab" was based, appears as cheerful TV host Kathy. Acclaimed comedic and character actress Burke makes first of several appearances as the no-nonsense Magda. In a flashback sequence, Eleanor Bron also appears as Patsy's mother; Bron would appear again in Absolutely Fabulous: Birth. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In the inaugural episode of popular Brit-com Absolutely Fabulous, a drinking binge and a fashion event provide the framework in which to introduce several of the show's primary characters: slothful forty-ish PR exec Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders); her caustic, no-nonsense daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawalha); her hard-drinking, coke-snorting, sexed-up best friend, Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley); and Bubble (Jane Horrocks), her intellect-free personal assistant. As the show begins, Edina is nursing yet another hangover -- until she realizes that today's the day the firm she owns is throwing a great big fashion show. After trading barbs with Saffron (or "Saffy") and lunching with the chic, disdainful Patsy, Edina finally drags herself into the office for a few hours of frantic activity. Bubble reports that big draw Yasmin LeBon has dropped out of the runway ranks and that Princess Anne has replaced Princess Diana on the guest list. Vowing to get the frumpy, fashion-challenged royal into a designer gown if it's the last thing she does, "Eddy" rushes around at the last minute to fill her event with such B-list celebrities as Betty Boo and Danni Minogue. After the event, Eddy proceeds to get utterly smashed with her perennial partner in crime, Patsy, much to the disgust of an unsympathetic Saffy, who locks her mother out of the house. Absolutely Fabulous: Fashion was originally broadcast on BBC 1 on November 12, 1992. In a flashback sequence, the episode introduces Edina's mother, June (June Whitfield), who will become a regular guest-star in subsequent episodes. Several other characters and plot threads are introduced obliquely, including Eddy's relationships with her ex-husbands and her long-lost son, Serge. Absolutely Fabulous: Fashion also includes countless jokey references to minor British celebrities whose names may mystify American audiences. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In this satirical British sitcom, which became a cult hit on American cable, a grotesquely self-centered fashion victim chain-smokes, swills champagne, abuses drugs, munches caviar, terrorizes her daughter, and tries in vain to mingle with the beautiful people -- all in the company of her sleek, slutty, boozed-up best friend. Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) (aka Pats and Eddy) are '60s survivors and fashion-world wannabes; Pats works for magazines, while Eddy owns a PR firm whose biggest client is '60s has-been Lulu, of "To Sir With Love" fame. These women live in a cloud of self-delusion about the supposed glamour of their London lifestyle, forever attempting to claw their way past the velvet rope. Pats inhabits the attic of a liquor-store franchise, while Eddy lives in a well-to-do flat thanks to the double alimony from her two ex-husbands, a gay antiques dealer and a recovering alcoholic. When she's not being horrible to her dowdy, unflappable teenaged daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawalha), and her oblivious, tongue-in-cheek mother (June Whitfield), Eddy stages fashion shows, jets off to photo shoots, pays charlatans to put her in touch with her inner child, and tries every weight-loss cure known to man -- except curbing her decadent lifestyle. Thanks to its shrill satire, over-the-top costumes, outrageous excess, and all-around camp appeal, Absolutely Fabulous became a pop-culture phenomenon that spawned two Sesame Street characters, a slew of slang expressions ("Sweetie darling, I'm chanting as we speak"), and even a Pet Shop Boys charity single. The actual theme song, sung by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmondson, is a cover of "This Wheel's on Fire," a '60s obscurity written by Bob Dylan and the Band's Rick Danko.

"AbFab," as it's known, began its life as a sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter" on the BBC comedy show French & Saunders. Although frequent Saunders collaborator Dawn French played the daughter part in the original sketch, she bowed out in favor of half-Jordanian, half-British actress Sawalha, a Press Gang vet who was closer to the character's age. Patsy -- played like a coked-up Dynasty caricature by former Bond girl and New Avengers star Lumley -- wasn't a part of the original sketch but quickly became a favorite of drag queens everywhere. In addition to cameos from celebrities such as Helena Bonham Carter and Naomi Campbell, AbFab includes frequent appearances by Little Voice star Jane Horrocks (as Eddy's airhead assistant, Bubble) and Nil by Mouth star Kathy Burke (as straight-talking magazine editor Magda). Although one BBC development executive's reaction to the pilot was, "I don't think women being drunk is funny," a beeb secretary handed out tapes in secret to her friends, and soon the buzz about the show became deafening. The first series premiered on BBC1 on November 12, 1992, but didn't make its American bow until July 1994, when Comedy Central began airing perpetual reruns of the show. Three six-episode series were broadcast in the U.K. in 1992, 1994, and 1995, followed by a two-part TV movie, Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout, in November 1996. In 2000, as Saunders was working on a new program called Mirrorball that reunited much of the AbFab cast, she decided to switch gears and revisit her best-known characters in a fourth AbFab series, which began airing on August 31, 2001. Co-funded by Comedy Central, the new series began its U.S. run a few months later, on November 12, 2001. Although Roseanne purchased the rights to develop an American version of the show in 1994, the first international adaptation of the program to see the light of day was the 2001 French film Absolument Fabuleux. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

A Ghost in Monte Carlo is based on one of the millions of romance novels penned by Barbara Cartland. True to the Cartland canon, the story is set long ago (1875) and far away (The Riviera). Sarah Miles is top-billed as a pompadoured former madam, while Oliver Reed dispenses tons of Armor Star as a lascivious rajah. Christopher Plummer struts about bedecked with medals as a military hero, and Samantha Eggar is a mystery woman shrouded in black. But the story is carried by Lysette Anthony, the niece of Sarah Miles, who tries to break into upper-crust society--a goal impeded by a long-standing thirst for vengeance on the part of one of the older stars. A Ghost in Monte Carlo was produced in Europe by Sir Lew Grade, and first seen in the US over the TNT Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a yuppie couple experiences renewed marital turmoil when the marriage of two close friends breaks up. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Clichéd, slow-paced, and with a well-worn storyline, this melodrama revolves around the sad tale of Olivia (Lisa Eichhorn), a woman who falls in love with Rollo (Michael York), a married man, and then suffers torment when she becomes pregnant and realizes she has no choice but to abort the baby. Predictable from the very beginning, this mediocre film is raised up several notches by Lisa Eichhorn's interpretation of Olivia. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi