A rather belated hello to you all this week, but as they say, better late than never!
That's fabulous, darling.
I was grinning from ear to ear this week when I learned the fantastic news about two of the most iconic characters in the BBC’s classic comedy legacy, Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, are returning to our screens for a three-part twentieth anniversary special of Absolutely Fabulous. I am so excited; I grew up with the drunken and hilarious antics of Eddy & Patsy when they first came to our screens in 1991, in a Vogue-infested ball of Stolichnaya, Marlboro Lights and Christian Lacroix. The great news is that all the original cast are returning for the show, including Julia Sawalha as Eddy’s long-suffering daughter Saffy, June Whitfield as Mother and Jane Horrocks as Eddy’s bizarre-but-loveable secretary Bubble. The episodes are being set in the present day, and as Absolutely Fabulous never let us down with its spot-on social observations of the times it was filmed in, it will be so wonderful and interesting to see how Eddy and Patsy are living in a world of smartphones, Facebook and YouTube. I just can’t wait and I’m very happy to know that Jennifer Saunders will be back on our screens after her successful battle against breast cancer last year.
Well that’s just fabulous, sweetie.
And there will be an Absolutely Fabulous section on our DVD homepage next week in tribute to this news, so make sure you check it out for some extra-fabulous prices.
" 'Viva France' as they say in Rome, Rodders!"
Staying with BBC comedy and legendary characters for the moment, I was alerted to some even more pukka news this week about a competition that was being run by satellite channel G.O.L.D. and in conjunction with the thirtieth anniversary of Only Fools & Horses. The prize was for anyone who fancied renting a night in a specially-made replica of Nelson Mandela House, where Del, Rodders, Granddad and Uncle Albert lived, for 1980s prices – £18 a night! All you had to do was email a registration to enter but sadly I only found this all out at the eleventh hour so was unable to enter myself. But hey ho, you can still enjoy the thirtieth-anniversary celebrations and take advantage of the best comedy the BBC ever created by checking out the Only Fools & Horses section from next Monday on our DVD page. Quite frankly you’d be a plonker not to. Lovely jubbly!
Finally I got to see Super 8 this week, the latest offering from LOST-creator J.J. Abrams and produced by I’m-not-worthy Steven Spielberg. If you haven’t seen it yet you should still be able to find a few showings as your local cinema such as I did, and it’s well worth it to go and see on the big screen, but I have to say in all honesty, it didn’t quite blow me away like Cloverfield or Star Trek XI, J.J. Abrams last feature did. I won’t put any plot spoilers in here for you but suffice to say I thought the children and the opening story were excellent, but the conclusion of the film… not so much. Sorry Mr Abrams, I think you can do better. Still the prospect of Cloverfield 2 has most definitely got my attention…
And finally this week I was rather tickled to learn what the most sought-after out-of-print book is. US-based book search engine BookFinder.com has totalled up all its searches of the past year and found that Madonna’s rather risqué to say the very least, Sex book is number one. I actually remember seeing reviews on it just after its release in 1992, and from a graphic point of view how interesting it was to see a large book encased in metal and being spiral-bound; it did look very naughty. Of course I would’ve been much too young at the time to read its contents, but I’m kicking myself slightly now because a local shop in the town I live had a copy in their window last year for a very reasonable price. Oh, in the bath when opportunity knocked. I will console myself then with the much more friendly-to-the-eyes The Marzipan Pig by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Quentin Blake, which I do have and is out-of-print.
If you’re interested to know if you are in possession of any of BookFinder.com’s most sought-after 100, you can see the entire list here.
The number one character features in all seven stories.
And speaking of lists, Harry Potter fans will be excited to learn who was voted the most popular character from the Harry Potter stories this week. I won’t spoil it for you, but if you want to know then just click here to see the full top 40 list. Personally I’m delighted to learn who was voted number one, and very deservedly so. It’s a great list and it’s only when you look at all the names there in the list that you realise just how phenomenal JK Rowling, her imagination and her writing really is.
And on that note, I shall see you all next week!
‘Laters!
