French and Saunders... And all things related.

[Mel O'Drama]

Despite owning the DVD set of Girls On Top since it came out over a decade ago, I've only just noticed that some of the pictures on the cover show a dark-haired Tracey Ullman and Jennifer Saunders with her mid-Eighties blonde hair in place of Jennifer (Marsh)'s trademark bob.


At first I thought I'd stumbled onto some stills from the mysteriously lost pilot, Four Fs To Share. But on looking closer I feel very confident they're actually contemporaneous with the series proper. The set, props, clothes and staging are identical. So are French and Wax's hairstyles (Saunders and Ullman presumably both wore wigs anyway).

I'm sure these must be rehearsal photos or stills from the episodes that actually aired.


One picture is from Jennifer's first scene in Four Play as seen at the beginning of this clip:

"I'm doin' an article for Titbits. It's about my fight for life."


The other picture is from the opening scene of Stayin' Alive:

"Who wants to work on all fours anyway"


A search for the pics another article about the missing pilot which has further piqued my curiosity. I'd love to know the full story behind these shots and that darned elusive pilot.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The solo Tracy Ullman and Ruby Wax interviews that are on the DVDs are very random. Interesting as it is to see them interviewed in the mid-Eighties, they didn't even mention the series.

It's a shame they couldn't have included some of the group interviews where they blatantly take the pi$$ out of the saccharine blandness of daytime television and mock the insipid presenters mercilessly. Like these:

This TV-am appearance must have given them a wealth of material to mine for the breakfast telly satires they'd be doing on French & Saunders a year or so down the line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyoz-YueRAA


Not directly related, but this Ruby Wax compilation show includes post-GOT interviews with both Dawn French (at 8:45) and Tracey Ullman (13:18). And it's followed by a truly brilliant pre-Patsy Joanna Lumley playing a really vulgar heightened version of herself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO2FzgxJtZI

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It seems Jen is returning to the West End for the first time in two decades in a production of Lady Windermere's Fan directed by Kathy Burke.

 

[Sarah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41318493

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are to reunite for a Christmas special to mark the 30th anniversary of the first series of their sketch shows.

The pair worked together for six series with the last airing in 2007.

French told the Mirror: "There's some Handmaid's Tale in there. We had fun with some of the costumes."

Since the end of their regular series, the pair have teamed up for Christmas specials and have also worked on Radio 2 and Comic Relief.

French also revealed that they are likely to parody some of the drunken reality shows filmed in holiday resorts during the show, which could air on Christmas Day on BBC One.


"I am shocked by how they behave," she said.

During their shows, the comedians created spoofs of films and also different characters who appeared in various sketches.

Among the most popular were public school girls Junior and Emma, farm workers Dot and May and shopping obsessives Jackie and Leanne.

 

[Seaviewer]

I tried The Vicar of .... (can't remember the village name), but I didn't really like it.

But I do quite like The Vicar Of Dibley. It has a great ensemble and is quite charming. I have to be in the right mood to watch it though.

No-no no no no-no. I do like the Vicar of Dibley, don't know much else about them, though.