French and Saunders

French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is also the name by which the performers are known when they appear elsewhere as a double act. The show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, movies, celebrities, and art. French and Saunders continued to film holiday specials for the BBC, and both have been individually successful starring in other shows.

Quick Facts Created by, Starring ...

French and Saunders
French (left) and Saunders (right)
Created by	Dawn French Jennifer Saunders
Starring	Dawn French Jennifer Saunders
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	6
No. of episodes	48 (not including the compilation specials) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	Various
Original release
Network	BBC2
Release	9 March 1987 (1987-03-09) – 1 April 1993 (1993-04-01)
Network	BBC One
Release	30 December 1994 (1994-12-30) – 27 December 2005 (2005-12-27)

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In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, the duo were voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Their last special, French and Saunders Christmas Celebrity Special, aired on 27 December 2005 on BBC One. In 2006, both French and Saunders announced their sketch show was dead and that they had moved on to more age-appropriate material. Their last time performing as a duo, the Still Alive tour, ran initially until late 2008, then resumed in Australia in summer 2009. In 2009, the duo were jointly awarded the BAFTA Fellowship.

In addition to French and Saunders themselves, the sketch series featured several regular and recurring cast members, who were chosen for their "funny bones" and willingness to "be part of the gang".^{[2]: 100–101}

Although the amount of music in the show decreased over time, Raw Sex remained regular cast members through series 4. Betty Marsden also appeared in series one as Madame, the show's choreographer. Singer Kirsty MacColl appeared in one episode of series two and five episodes of series 3, sometimes performing jointly with Raw Sex.

For series 5, Mel and Sue served as assistant writers and appeared in four of the seven episodes. In series 6, the show returned to the show-within-a-show format of series 1, with Liza Tarbuck appearing in each episode as the fictional show's producer and Lorna Brown as the PA.

The show also featured dozens of guest stars. Notably, Saunders' Absolutely Fabulous co-stars Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, and June Whitfield all guest-starred as themselves, with Whitfield appearing on the show three years before the beginning of Ab Fab. The spouses of the duo, Lenny Henry and Adrian Edmondson, both appeared on the show respectively, while the producer, Jon Plowman, made occasional uncredited cameos. Recurring Ab Fab actors Patrick Barlow, Harriet Thorpe, Helen Lederer, and Kathy Burke also appeared, as did French's The Vicar of Dibley co-star Gary Waldhorn, and Jam & Jerusalem regulars Maggie Steed, Rosie Cavaliero, and Pauline McLynn.

French and Saunders first broadcast on 9 March 1987 on BBC2, with the first series comprising six episodes. With its popularity and high ratings, a second series commenced on 4 March 1988, followed by a Christmas special in late 1988. The third, fourth and fifth series, which broadcast from 1990 to 1996, consisting each of seven episodes, relied heavily on movie parodies, and some music parodies, alongside their own material, such as the sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter", which spawned Saunders' popular sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in 1992. Notable films parodied on the show included What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Exorcist, Misery, The Silence of the Lambs, Thelma & Louise, Pulp Fiction, and Braveheart. A second Christmas special was screened in 1994, between the fourth and fifth series. For the next several years, the series included only Christmas and Easter specials; in 1998, a new special, "The Making of Titanic", was broadcast at Christmas and featured a spoof on the behind-the-scenes and making of James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, with Dawn French as Jack and Jennifer Saunders as Rose. Five further specials, including spoofs on the films Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Love Actually, were broadcast from 1999 to 2003, before the sixth and final series in 2004, and an additional Christmas special in 2005. Forty-eight episodes (not including the compilation episodes) were broadcast between 1987 and 2005.

The series additionally included compilation specials, starting in 1995 with the two-part "French and Saunders Go To the Movies", which highlighted their movie parodies from the series. A second two-part compilation special, "I Can't Believe it's Music" and "I Can't Believe it's Not Music" from 2005, showcased their classic music parodies from singers such as Alanis Morissette, ABBA, The Corrs, Guns N' Roses, and Björk. In 2007, the compilation series "A Bucket o' French and Saunders", which featured a mixture of new material and old clips, was broadcast to highlight the 20th anniversary of the series. However, this proved unpopular with viewers, and the initial seven-part series was edited to six episodes. On 25 December 2017, a new compilation special, "300 Years of French and Saunders", marked the 30th anniversary of the series, and again consisted mainly of old clips, while new material featured spoofs of Gogglebox and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

French and Saunders toured rarely, with UK tours in 1990 and 2000. They began what was announced as their final tour at Blackpool Opera House on 29 February 2008 in the UK. The first leg of the show concluded in May 2008 before moving to Australia. The tour ended on 9 November in London. The tour included a selection of their favourite sketches and new material written specifically for the show. The tour was directed by Hamish McColl, set design by Lez Brotherstone, and lighting, video and visual effects by Willie Williams.

• Live 1990
• Live in 2000
• French and Saunders: Still Alive! The Farewell Tour

• Sharon and Karen (1987–1988): A pair of naughty schoolgirls who call out "Miss!" every time things go wrong.
• The Extras (1987–2003): Unnamed extras who infuriate every director with their overacting, and every actor with their overfamiliarity.
• Jim and Jim (1987–1993): Also known as "The Fat Men", the "Dirty Old Men", or simply "Men". Whether at the pub, in front of the telly, or trying out for panto, they think they're God's gift to women and sexually harass any woman they meet.
• Teen Talkers (1987–1988): Two chatty teenagers who discuss changes in the facilities in a series 1 episode and contraception in a series 2 episode.
• White Room (1988–2005): Dawn and Jennifer interact in a room with white walls and bubble-wrapped furniture. Dawn knocks at the door and usually announces herself as "Dawn French, your comedy partner" or "Dawn French from teleovision", while Jennifer sits on the couch and tries to make her uncomfortable. The two sometimes impersonated celebrities or other characters within the sketch, and occasionally, it was used as a springboard to another sketch, such as a parody of Noel's House Party or Dr. Tanya Byron's intervention.
• History of Dance (1988–1996): French and Saunders try out different dancing styles (e.g., Irish jig, flappers, 90s clubbers, disco, sock hops), but the dancing always goes wrong in the end.
• Jackie and Leanne (1988–1996): Dramatic young women obsessed with mail-order catalogues and plan for events such as holidays and weddings far in advance.
• Pear Tree Farm (1988–2005): A farm whose owner (French) repeatedly changes its line of business, always assisted by her mentally disabled, unpaid employee (Saunders), who often unintentionally reveals unpleasant truths the owner has been hiding. Initially, the farm was home to Star Pets, which supplied animals to TV and film productions; subsequent businesses included an animal crematory and a children's nursery. French's character first appeared in series 2, but the farm and Saunders' character didn't appear until series 3.
• Star Test (1990): A spoof of the show of the same name, serving as a platform to parody the interview subjects, which included Sonia, Bros, Wendy James of Transvision Vamp, and Tanita Tikaram.
• The Expert (1990–2000): A talk show host (Saunders) introduces Dawn as an "expert" on a subject such as the royal family or outer space, but Dawn constantly shows herself to have no knowledge in the area. The sketch appeared on TV only in series three but was revived for the 2000 live tour, wherein the show's title was "PMTV".
• The Fat Women (1990–1998): Living in a country house, they spend their days at the races, drinking whiskey, getting severe injuries and brushing them off as minor incidents. They also insult anybody who interferes in their business.
• The Sound of Music (1993): A segment hosted by Ken and Duane, in which they briefly discussed the history of music as a lead-in to music video parodies. Segments often opened with Ken reading the lyrics to a popular song in a monotone.
• Madonna (1993–2005): Often mentioned, particularly in White Room sketches, and occasionally parodied, such as in spoofs of In Bed with Madonna, "Into the Hollywood Groove", "Me Against the Music", and The English Roses.
• The Stylists (1996–2004): Wardrobe stylist Daniel (Saunders) and hair and makeup artist Terry (French), chain-smoking, flamboyantly gay men who style celebrities (series 5) and assist the Old Masters (series 6).
• 'Olde Elizabethan Shakespearean Times (1996): Two unhygienic women in Elizabethan England enjoy living a backward peasant way of life, whether cooking disgusting recipes using urine or gossiping about the locals at the pub.
• Junior and Emma (1996–1999): Public school girls who have been abandoned by their parents and stay at school during the holidays.
• Special Effects Specialists (1998–2004): Propsmen who excel in making the worst props ever used in such big-budget films as Titanic, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Troy.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones (2003–2004): Always refers to herself as "Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones" and usually discusses differences between her lifestyle in Wales and in Hollywood.
• Jodie & Jordan Solve Your Problems (2004): Hypersexual cam girls who provide advice to viewers, invariably suggesting they "shag [someone's] brains out".
• Mother and Daughter: A daughter (usually French) gets into an argument with her mother (usually Saunders), often over something insignificant.

Quick Facts Lananeeneenoonoo, Background information ...

Lananeeneenoonoo
The single cover for "Help!" featuring French, Saunders, and Burke (Lananeeneenoonoo) with the real Bananarama
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Pop
Years active	1988–1989
Labels	London Records
Past members	Dawn French Jennifer Saunders Kathy Burke

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Lananeeneenoonoo was a British spoof all-girl group consisting of comedians Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke. The group, and its name, was a spoof on the popular group Bananarama and was introduced during the 1988 Christmas special of French & Saunders, in which Burke was a guest.

In 1989, along with Bananarama, they created a charity single called "Help!", to raise money for Comic Relief. It was a cover version of the Beatles' song and was released on the London Records label, entering the UK Singles Chart on 25 February 1989 and reaching a high of No. 3. It remained in the chart for nine weeks.

Saunders won international acclaim for writing and playing Edina Monsoon in her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, based on the French and Saunders sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter". She also guest starred in the American sitcoms Roseanne and Friends, and voiced the wicked Fairy Godmother in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2. Saunders wrote and starred in another two BBC sitcoms Jam and Jerusalem and The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. Her other work includes being the face of Barclays Bank and BBC America.^{[citation needed]}

French starred as Geraldine Granger in the highly successful sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, which received great critical acclaim. She also starred in four series of the comedy/crime show Murder Most Horrid, and voiced Mrs. Beaver in the film adaptation of C. S. Lewis' fantasy novel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. French starred in another BBC shows Jam and Jerusalem and Lark Rise to Candleford. For many years, French has become popular for her appearances in the Terry's Chocolate Orange adverts by saying her famous line: "It's not Terry's, it's mine!" and voiced the W H Smith and Tesco adverts.^{[citation needed]} In 2009, French released her autobiography Dear Fatty, referring to Saunders, to whom she gave the nickname "Fatty". In 2021, French starred as a little ornament fairy for a M&S Christmas food advert along with its confectionery products character, Percy Pig.^[7]