French and Saunders

French and Saunders
French and Saunders
Format	Sketch comedy, parody
Created by	Dawn French Jennifer Saunders
Starring	Dawn French Jennifer Saunders
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	46
Production
Running time	Various
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC Two
Original run	9 March 1987 – 24 December 2007

French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act.

Widely popular in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, 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. The duo continue to film holiday specials for the BBC, and both have been successful starring in their own shows. Saunders won a BAFTA, an Emmy Award and international acclaim for writing and playing the lead role of Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, which led to her minor, cameo roles in the American sitcoms Roseanne and Friends. She won an American People's Choice Award for voicing the wicked Fairy Godmother in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2, but more recently she has written 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. Meanwhile, French starred in the highly successful sitcom The Vicar of Dibley which received great critical acclaim as well as numerous holiday specials and future airplay, receiving cult status. She also starred in three series of the comedy show Murder Most Horrid. She had a voice over role as Mrs. Beaver in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but more recently she has starred in Jam and Jerusalem, written by Saunders, and Lark Rise to Candleford, of which the fourth series has just been commissioned. For many years she became popular for her appearances in the Terry's Chocolate Orange adverts saying the famous line "It's not Terry's, it's mine!" and is currently the voice of W H Smith and Tesco adverts. She recently released her autobiography 'Dear Fatty', referring to Saunders, to whom she gave the nickname 'Fatty'.

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

In 2009, they were jointly awarded the BAFTA Fellowship.

History

Early years (1978–1987)

French and Saunders met in 1978 while attending the Central School of Speech and Drama and began their career to collaborate on comedy projects. They came to prominence in the early 1980s for performing at the London comedy club The Comic Strip, which also gave its name to the television series and the informal grouping of so-called alternative comedians. They were featured on the 1981 live comedy album of The Comic Strip recorded by comedy entrepreneur Martin Lewis for his Springtime! label and released in September 1981. Their first mainstream television appearance was in 1982 in the British comedy programme The Comic Strip Presents..., where they were appeared in approximately 30 episodes each as well as writing material for the series. They began to establish themselves in what was referred to as the "underground comedy" scene, along with many other prolific actors and comedians like Alan Rickman and Miranda Richardson, people whom they would go on to work with for the next twenty-plus years. From 1984, they appeared as comedy relief on the weekly Channel 4 music programme The Tube, for which French had the honour of being the first person to use the word "blowjob" on UK TV.

In 1985, French and Saunders collaborated on their programme Girls On Top, which they again wrote and starred in. Co-stars Tracey Ullman and Ruby Wax rounded out a set of four oddball roommates, and the show ran for two years. In 1986, they made their first of many appearances on Comic Relief, and they signed a long-term contract with the BBC. Although the two have parted somewhat to find great success individually, they frequently reunite for holiday specials on BBC. A six-DVD boxed set of their work was released internationally.

French and Saunders (1987–2010)

French and Saunders spoofing Jack and Rose from the popular film Titanic

On 9 March 1987, the duo launched their sketch show French and Saunders, which has carried over six seasons and 46 episodes up until 24 December 2007. Their show began humbly but immediately established its own niche as a spoof on other types of shows. In the first season it was intentionally set up to look like a low-budget variety show in which the two stars were constantly attempting grandiose stunts and often failing miserably. Often a "famous" guest star (usually very much a B-list celebrity) would be brought on then treated badly. Also featured during this season was a set of geriatric dancers and a bongos/keyboard music duo called Raw Sex, actually long-time collaborators Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron and the vocal talents of Kirsty MacColl.

As the series progressed and ratings skyrocketed, French and Saunders received higher and higher budgets with which to create elaborate parodies of mainstream culture. These ranged anywhere from recreations of films (Thelma & Louise, Misery, Titanic, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) to spoofs on popular music artists (Madonna, Bananarama, ABBA, and The Corrs being favourites). Certain spoken phrases and sight gags that referenced previously performed sketches (often from years before) were incorporated for loyal fans. In particular there is a running gag suggesting that the duo are unable to accurately affect accents; this first appeared in their spoof of Gone with the Wind when they break character in the middle of an elaborate and expensive parody to argue about the authenticity of their Southern accent. Saunders goads French to try the accent by saying: "How are you?", and French responds with an interpretation sounding more like a strong Northern Irish accent. Since then, the duo often break character in the middle of elaborate sketches to do an "accent check" and repeat these lines.

The show also featured meta references: an awareness that the viewer was actually watching a parody. Unlike many parodies that are done in a straightforward manner for effect, French and Saunders uses the viewer's awareness of what is going on to further stretch out the joke. In their parody of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, an encounter by Frodo and Galadriel is thrown off when Saunders delivers her line: "I have passed the test, and now I will diminish, and go to the West and remain Galadriel", to which French responds: "You will what, sorry?", Saunders replies: "I will diminish... I don't understand, it's in the book." Other characters that make a recurring appearance are the bald, fat, perverted old men ("Begging for it, she is!"); Star Test (most memorable character is Sonia, played by French); and Out and About ("I bet she dos [sic] tricks"). The love child named Jean is a prominent feature in many of their sketches.

BBC Radio 2 (2010–present)

In Christmas 2010, French and Saunders are featured in three two-hours radio shows on BBC Radio 2. This was followed by further specials in 2011 for Easter and the Bank Holidays.

List of Series and other appearances

Series 1 - 1987

#	Airdate	Cast & Sketches
1	9 March	Alison Moyet
2	16 March	Roy Castle
3	23 March	Julie T. Wallace
4	30 March	Michael Grade
5	6 April	Jools Holland, Rik Mayall, Harry Enfield
6	13 April	Joan Armatrading, Harriet Thorpe

Other appearances and work

• 1987 - Alison Moyet - Love Letters (promo video - F&S appearance)
• 1988 – Comic Relief

Series 2 - 1988

#	Airdate	Cast & Sketches
1	4 March	Joan Bakewell, Squeeze
2	11 March	Toyah Willcox, Steve O'Donnell
3	18 March	Helen Lederer, Kirsty MacColl
4	25 March	Ben Elton
5	8 April	Adrian Edmondson, Lenny Henry, The Proclaimers
6	15 April	Robbie Coltrane, June Whitfield, Lulu

Other appearances and work

• 1988 - Bananarama & Lananeeneenoonoo – Help! Promo video (Comic Relief single)
• 1988 - Bananarama & Lananeeneenoonoo – Help! Comic Relief '88 Live performance
• 1988 - Jim Henson's The Storyteller - the bad sisters in Sapsorrow
• 1988 - Christmas Special 28 December 1988 (Kathy Burke, Harriet Thorpe) (40 min)
• 1989 – Hysteria 2 (live appearance C4 (Tiger Television), Standup/sketch, colour, 1989
• 1989 – Comic Relief 2: A Night Of Comic Relief 2
• 1989 - The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball - ITV (Central), Standup/sketch

Series 3 - 1990

#	Airdate	Sketches & Cast
1	15 March	The Sound of Music (Jerry Hall)
2	22 March	Whatever Happened to Baby Dawn? (Mac McDonald)
3	29 March	The Exorcist (Kathy Burke)
4	5 April	Dangerous Liaisons (Nigel Planer, Eleanor Bron, Joan Bakewell)
5	12 April	Gone with the Wind
6	19 April	Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Harriet Thorpe, Mac McDonald)
7	26 April	Jane Asher, Carl Davis

Other appearances and work

• 1990 Little Pig Robinson (Beatrix Potter)
• 1990 – French and Saunders Live! (1990 Tour) Home video release (non-BBC)
• 1991 - Comic Relief’ 91: F&S and Birds of a Feather – Mistaken Identity
• 1991 - Hysteria III (UK, C4 (Noel Gay Television), Standup/sketch, colour)
• 1991 - Amnesty International's Big 30 (ITV (Working Title Television for Central), Standup/sketch
• 1993 - Comic Relief’ 93: Total Relief

Series 4 - 1993

#	Airdate	Sketches & Cast
1	18 February	Misery
2	25 February	The Silence of the Lambs
3	4 March	The Seventh Seal
4	11 March	In Bed With French And Saunders
5	18 March	French And Saunders: The Special Edition
6	25 March	Thelma and Louise
7	1 April	The House of Idiot

Other appearances and work

• 1994 - Christmas Special 30 December 1994 (Adrian Edmondson, Chris Ryan, Harriet Thorpe, Richard Briers) (40 min)
• 1994 - Dusty Springfield - Full Circle (BBC Interview/Documentary)
• 1994 - Alison Moyet - Whispering Your Name (promo video - Dawn appearance)
• 1995 – Comic Relief '95: The Night Of Comic Relief (BBC, Sketch/standup)

Dawn, a parody of Oprah-style chat-shows featuring Dawn French and Victoria Wood/ F&S Sketch

Series 5 - 1996

#	Airdate	Sketches & Cast
1	4 January	1996 Baywatch (Julia Sawalha)
2	11 January	Braveheart
3	18 January	Franco e Sandro (Felicity Kendal) (Sue Barker) (Kate Moss)
4	25 January	Batman
5	1 February	Pulp Fiction (Lulu)
6	8 February	The Quick and the Dead (Lenny Henry)
7	29 February	Dr. Quimn, Mad Woman (Michael Praed)

Other appearances and work

• 1997 - Spice Girls & The Sugar Lumps – Who Do You Think You Are - Promo video (Comic Relief)
• 1997 – Comic Relief ’97

Series 6 - 2004

#	Airdate	Cast & Sketches
1	15 October	Dawn and Jennifer meet their new producer and sign a contract, unknowingly locking themselves into a six-part series deal.
2	22 October	Dawn attempts to find the chocolate lime to evoke childhood memories, Jennifer searches porn on the computer and a new director general of the BBC drops round.
3	29 October	Jennifer has been selected for a royal award, while Dawn is aghast at not being selected, as well as Mark Lamarr's rudeness. Episode one of the series is, apparently, drafted by the pair - albeit hastily.
4	5 November	Dawn and Jennifer attempt to get funding for a series via the internal BBC process of offers.
5	12 November	With 5 of the 6 episodes for the new series' soon-approaching deadline; Dawn and Jennifer cut their ideas down to a manageable portion. The episode ends with a guest appearance from Anastacia.
6	26 November	Episode one of the new series starts filming. Dawn and Jennifer delay production, through a combination of pedanticism and constantly getting lost. The episode ends with the party for the start of the new series.

Series 7 - A Bucket o' French and Saunders 2007

• A Bucket O' French and Saunders was shown from 7 September till 5 October, (The sixth episode not being shown canon). The series was shown as a retrospective, showing 20 years of the French and Saunders sketch show. The series also included new prerecorded sketches, which were interspersed between the classic sketches. The new sketches were recorded in June 2007 at the BBC Television Centre. New material included parodies of America's Next Top Model, The Apprentice, Gordon Ramsay's The F-Word, The Academy Awards (featuring a cameo appearance by Dame Helen Mirren), X Factor, Big Brother, Fame Academy and a parody of disgraced celebrities Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears.

#	Airdate	Sketches & Cast
1	7 September 2007	Episode 1 sees the return of the hapless documentary presenter (Joanna Lumley), introducing the sketches. Classic Material: Who is it?/Dawn's Entrances, The Two Fat Men, ABBA Promo (C'est La Vie), 60s Dance Quickie, Marilyn and Jane, The Exorcist, The Extras, Britney & Madonna (Remixed), Titanic, Dawn at the Doctor, F&S Teenagers' and features a music montage of old clips to The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps". New Material: The F-Word featuring Jemima, Humpty Dumpty and Little Ted.
2	14 September 2007	Classic Material:French and Saunders "get" a BAFTA, The Menopatsy Sisters, F&S Dancing, Cassie's Dance Audition (featuring Harriet Thorpe), Jen's Reactions to Dawn, Generation Gap (featuring Julia Sawalha, F&S do Presenters Academy (featuring Davina McCall, This sketch had been filmed in 2005 but had previously never been seen on television), Dana and Mary Hopkin, Dickens' Daughter, The Mamas & the Papas, George Michael and Boy George, Florida Retirees, The Sound of Music and features a music montage of old clips to Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and another montage set to Dmitri in Paris' Une Very Stylish Fille New Material: The French and Saunders Academy Awards featuring Dame Helen Mirren
3	21 September 2007	Classic Material: Alien, Gone with the Wind, Cold Turkey, Loveheart, Look at my baby!, Poo Stripes, BoyZone, Aimless Morris-Minor, Chris Martin's Mother/"Apple", West Country Maids, Silence of the Lambs, F&S do Women's Programming, Lucky Bitches, 20s Dance Quickie, Hoodies Dance Quickie, and features a music montage of old clips to The Gorillaz "Feel Good Inc.". New Material: Jennifer's "Reality TV Tour" featuring Dawn as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Alan Sugar, Tyra Banks and Simon Cowell
4	28 September 2007	Classic Material: Dawn coming in, Bro's Star Test, Insane Housewife "Nibbles" (featuring Lenny Henry and Adrian Edmondson), The Extra's at the Tate Modern, Witless Silence, Batman (featuring Patsy Kensit), Star Wars, The two fat women, Jackie and Brigitte (featuring Tanya Byron), Elton John with Kiki Dee and features a music montage of old clips to Basement Jaxx' "Where's Your Head At?" and another montage to Just Jack's Stars in their Eyes. New Material: Dawn the Meter Checker, Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears
5	5 October 2007	Classic Material: F&S make Music, Lananeeneenoonoo, Catherine Zeta-Spartacus-Jones "President" and "Pregnant", Hurrah for Hollywood, Horse Riding, Kill Bill, Dot and May, Pulp Fiction, Thelma and Louise and features a music montage of old clips to Lulu's "Shout". This episode also features a retrospective montage on 20 years of "F&S" set to Dawn and Jennifer's rendition of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were". New Material: Location, Relocation, Property Under the Sun featuring Kirstie Allsopp and Big Brother in the French and Saunders House
6	12 October 2007	Due to low ratings, the run was shortened and episodes five and six were edited down together into one show, so this scheduled broadcast was cancelled. Surprisingly, none of the leftover new material (including a Doctor Who parody, their second spoof of the show and also their second never to air) made it into the following Christmas special.[citation needed]
7	24 December 2007	Episode 7, the final in the series, is an episode dedicated to Christmas (a possible homage to the once famous French and Saunders' Christmas Special). Classic Material: Dawn Modelling with Kate Moss, The Two Fat Men at Christmas, The Two Fat Women at Christmas, 'Don't Sit There!', La Belle Dame Sans Chapeau (with Darcey Bussell), Scary Moments with F&S, Whatever Happened to Baby Dawn?, The Rubbish Maids,, F&S at Richard and Judy's House, Hosanna in the Highest (with Alison Moyet), Prosthetics with F&S, Computer Troubles, Cher, Ride with F&S, Imagine: Parkour (with Alan Yentob), Catherine Zeta-Spartacus-Douglas-Jones' Christmas Message, 1920's Dance Quickie, F&S in Prison, Christmas in the White Room, The Opera Divas (featuring Sarah Walker) and features a music montage of old clips to Shirley Bassey and The Propellerheads, "History Repeating". New Material: White Room: Still Can't Get In to the BBC

Special Episodes

• 1988 - Christmas Special - A French and Saunders Christmas Story
• 1994 - Christmas Special - French and Saunders Christmas Carol
• 1998 - Christmas Special – The Making of: The Filming of: The Making of: Titanic (30mins)
• 1999 - Bank Holiday Special – Witless Silence/F&S TV - Home Shopping Network (30mins)
• 1999 - Christmas Special – French and Saunders: The Phantom Millennium (30mins)
• 2000 - Comic Relief Special (Video Only) - The Extras On Doctor Who (unaired extended sketch recorded 13 years previously for series 1 episode 6 and eventually released as a short special as part of the Doctor Who Comic Relief video compilation)
• 2000 - French and Saunders - Live in 2000 Tour (Home video release – non-BBC)
• 2002 - Easter Special – The Egg
• 2002 - Christmas Special – Celebrity Christmas Puddings
• 2003 - Comic Relief Special – Harry Potter and The Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan
• 2003 - Christmas Special – French and Saunders: Actually
• 2005 – Christmas Special - French and Saunders Celebrity Christmas Special
• 2007 - TV Series - A Bucket O' French and Saunders
• 2009 - Comic Relief Special - Gimme, Gimme, Gimmick (Mamma Mia: The Movie) (Last official sketch under the brand of "French and Saunders")

Live Shows

French and Saunders began a UK tour at Blackpool Opera House on 29 February 2008. The first leg of the show concluded in May 2008. The show ended 9 November, in London. Previously they have toured their comedy act / sketch show very rarely, with UK tours in 1990 & 2000. The current tour contains a selection of their favourite sketches, as well as new material written specifically for the tour. The show was directed by Hamish McColl, set design by Lez Brotherstone, lighting, video and visual effects by Willie Williams.

• Live 1990
• Live in 2000
• French and Saunders: Still Alive 2008
• French and Saunders: Still Alive 2008 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
• French and Saunders: Still Alive 2009 Australia
• French and Saunders: Still Alive 2009 New Zealand

Side projects and spin-off series

Featuring French and Saunders

• The Comic Strip Presents (1982–1998)
• Girls On Top (1985–1986)
• Happy Families (1985)
• Let Them Eat Cake (1999)
• Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2009)
• Coraline (2008)

Featuring French

• The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2007)
• Murder Most Horrid (1991–1999)
• Wild West (2002–2004)
• Psychoville (2009–2011)
• Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011)

Featuring Saunders

• Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2004)
• The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (2007)

Video & DVD Releases

UK video

• French and Saunders The Video (Best Of Series 1 & 2) (1990)
• French and Saunders Live (4 Front Video) (1991)
• French and Saunders Series 3 (1993)
• French and Saunders At The Movies (Best Of Series 4) (1994)

UK DVD

• French and Saunders Live (Universal) (2001)
• The Best Of French and Saunders (or Gentlemen Prefer French and Saunders) (2002)
• French and Saunders At The Movies (also Includes the 1999 Christmas Special) (2005)
• French and Saunders: Complete Series 1-6 (2008)
• French and Saunders: Still Alive (2008)

USA video

• French and Saunders At The Movies (1997)
• Gentlemen Prefer French and Saunders (1997)
• French and Saunders Ingenue Years (1998)
• French and Saunders Living In A Material World (1998)

USA DVD

• Gentlemen Prefer French and Saunders (2002)
• French and Saunders At The Movies (2002)
• French and Saunders The Ingenue Years (2003)
• French and Saunders Living In A Material World (2003)
• French and Saunders On The Rocks (2005)
• French and Saunders Back With A Vengeance (2005)

Australian video

• French and Saunders: Series 3 - Complete and Un-edited(ish) - (Part One) (1993)^[1]
• French and Saunders: The Best of Series 4 (1994)^[2]
• French and Saunders: Series 3 - Complete and Un-edited(ish) - (Part Two) (1996) ^[3]
• French and Saunders: Live (2002)

Australian DVD

• French and Saunders: Live (2003)
• French and Saunders At The Movies (with 1999 Christmas Special) (2005)
• BBC Presents "The Best of: French and Saunders" (2005)
• French and Saunders: Complete Series 1-6 (2008)
• French and Saunders: Still Alive - The Farewell Tour (2008)^[4]
• French And Saunders: Series One Episodes 1-3 (Comedy Bites) (4 March 2010)
• Dawn French Bundle (2011)

International broadcasters

Country	TV Network(s)
Australia	ABC (first runs) UK.TV/The Comedy Channel (repeats)
Canada	BBCK on BBC Kids
France	Arte (first runs), Pink TV (France) (repeats)
Germany	EinsFestival, Arte
New Zealand	UK.TV
Portugal	RTP2 (first runs), BBC Prime/BBC Entertainment (repeats)
Singapore	BBC Entertainment
Thailand	BBC Entertainment
United States	BBC America

References

1. ^ Australian Board of Classification
2. ^ Australian Board of Classification
3. ^ Australian Board of Classification
4. ^ Australian Board of Classification

External links

• French and Saunders Dot Com
• British Film Institute Screen Online
• French and Saunders BBC page with cast, crew, and episode list
• French and Saunders at the Internet Movie Database
• French and Saunders at TV.com
• French and Saunders receive the BAFTA Fellowship