This programme, shown on BBC1 in the UK on 22nd december 2000, is a one-off christmas special written by Jennifer Saunders. It was to be developed into a series but then Jennifer decided to write a new series of Absolutely Fabulous instead. This brilliant 30-minute comedy is about fading show-business diva Vivienne Keill (Saunders) and her has-been best friend Jackie Riviera (Lumley). Vivienne is a dancer who is well past her prime, but who still lingers in the public's imagination thanks to her trademark high kicks. She is nervous about her forthcoming audition for the role of matriarch Angela in Angela's Ashes - the Musical, and seeks advice from her sister Freda, a serious actress (Julia Sawalha). The audition and its fall-out serve to introduce other Ab Fab luminaries, notably the splendid June Whitfield as fifties starlet Dora Vermouth, Jane Horrocks as eccentric Icelandic waitress and would-be performer Yitta and Harriet Thorpe as desperate wannabe Cat Rogers.
Another triumphe by the BBC, but I still can't wait for the new AbFab!
