Emmy nomination for the return of Absolutely Fabulous

Crack open the Bolly - the return of Absolutely Fabulous has been nominated for an International Emmy.

Joanna Lumley: Absolutely Fabulous could go on forever

Joanna Lumley has said Ab Fab could go on forever, as she and Jennifer Saunders have discussed continuing until their characters are over 100 years old.

Ab Fab at 20 shows great sitcom well past its prime

The recent trio of Absolutely Fabulous specials arrive on DVD - offering an unfortunate reminder of how this once mighty sitcom has fallen.

I watched (after the first 10 minutes, at gunpoint) the Absolutely Fabulous Olympic "special". If I suggested we call it Absolutely Dreadfulous I would still, if lazily, have come up with a better gag than was allowed to enter the programme.

In Absolutely Fabulous, Edina wailed: "There's so much new stuff happening, I just can't keep up." She could have been talking about the comedy itself for this was a tired revival, proving yet again that John Cleese was right to institute a rule for sitcoms you could call the 12 Steps - two series of six then goodbye.

I don't wish to raise unnecessary alarm, but there was a rather strange development at BBC1 last Monday as the continuity guy introduced the Absolutely Fabulous Olympic special. Because these were his exact words: 'Next tonight, comedy gold as Eddie and Patsy get into the Olympic spirit.'

My initial concern here was that the BBC appeared to have caught a nasty case of 'reviewing our own show' disease, which medical sources suggest was first brought into this country by a Mr S Cowell, of London. Half an hour later.

If this is to be the last we see of their grotesque creations they will never be able to say with any degree of honesty that they went out on a high.

I had an even greater problem. Namely, how do I go about suing the national broadcaster for a flagrant breach of the Trades Descriptions Act?
Because this was not gold of any kind, least of all comedy. In fact, for the most part it wasn't comedy of any kind, either.

Yes, there was the odd wry Olympics observation, although nothing that could touch the satirical majesty of BBC2's brilliant Twenty Twelve. And yes, there was a very clever sight gag when Patsy held up Eddie's body contouring all-in-one.
But the rest of the jokes were so lame that on more than one occasion I swear I spotted Derek Redmond's dad rushing up to help them over the line.

They saved the worst one - a real stinker about Clare Balding which I cannot even bring myself to commit to print here - until near the end. (Presumably the thinking was that they would get away with it because most people would have switched off by then.)

Of course, it is Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley I feel most sorry for. If this is to be the last we see of their grotesque creations they will never be able to say with any degree of honesty that they went out on a high.
In Olympic terms, they never even got near the podium.

At best it had the feel of a tired and uninspired end-of-the-run panto. At worst it was like watching a low-rent drag act spewing out filth and innuendo in the vain hope of getting at least one laugh in a grotty East End pub.

Plus, it was in no way helped by the most irritatingly intrusive laughter track in history, which featured one spectacularly loud woman who sounded like a hyena on HRT being fed into a woodchipper.

On a more positive note, it will have provided a welcome boost to David Jason's ego. Because thanks to some of the physical comedy on show here, his performances in The Royal Bodyguard have now slipped to No 2 on this year's Most Toe-Curling TV Slapstick chart.
David can also boast that the BBC didn't hijack his show and fill it with sneaky and self-congratulatory plugs for their upcoming Jubilee coverage. Jennifer Saunders didn't get off so lightly.

First say (the criminally wasted Julia Sawalha) had a line about how much better the TV coverage of the Olympics is in Britain than in Africa. Then Gran (the genuinely wonderful June Whitfield) gave the BBC another premature pat on the back with this closing thought: 'I don't understand why anyone would actually want to be there when they can watch it in comfort on the good old Auntie Beeb.'

Joanna Lumley interview

Joanna Lumley says "It's all up to Jennifer Saunders if there will be more. If she writes a film, I'll be in it."

Video: Saunders & Lumley carry Olympic flame

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley jointly carried the Olympic flame in London, a day before the opening ceremony.

The pair, famous for their roles as Edina and Patsy in the hit comedy Absolutely Fabulous, held the torch together as they jogged along the King's Road in Chelsea.

Ab Fab Olympic special was no gold medal-winner

The final Absolutely Fabulous special might have been timely, as Edina and Patsy offered their own spin on the Olympics, but the show itself is starting to look as old and tired as its characters.

Ab Fab: A tired team running out of ideas

The trick to filling in 30 minutes of airtime with 15 minutes of material seemed to be, quite literally, often saying the same line twice and hoping we wouldn't notice.