CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 11/02/07

Not So Mad About Saffron

by jason davis

Absolutely Fabulous (White Box)

Jennifer Saunders

Like many beloved British comedies, Absolutely Fabulous relies on the semi-annual Christmas episode to present a fresh helping of its protagonists, immature, alcoholic fad chasers Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) and Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders), between seasons.  Sadly, 2004's offering, "White Box" fails to deliver on the key ingredient that made the series a hit.  While Patsy and Edina spend plenty of time airing their profound shallowness on screen, Edina's relationship with her infinitely more responsible and mature daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawalha), seems shoehorned into the 44-minute special to pad out the story.  While plum guest parts are written in for the likes of Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, Sawalha is sidelined to an unfunny subplot with a punch line from left field.  Almost as if to highlight the scripting misstep, the original French and Saunders sketch that spawned Absolutely Fabulous is included as an extra, and the attentive viewer will note that while Edina and Saffy (played by Dawn French in the sketch) are key to the format, there's no sign of Edina's drunken sidekick, Patsy, and the sketch doesn't suffer as much as "White Box" does without a sufficient role for Saffy.

Absolutely Fabulous (White Box)
BBC Video

Not rated; 44 min.

$14.98

Buy it now

Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

Absolutely Fabulous (White Box) courtesy BBC Video

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