Absolutely Fabulous (series 1) years before, to try and escape his mother's clutches. Her long-suffering daughter, Saffron "Saffy", whom Edina is reliant upon, is a Sixth form student and remains at home. The series also the includes Edina's sweet-natured-but-slightly-batty mother (June Whitfield), whom Eddy sees as an interfering burden, and Edina's dim-witted assistant Bubble (Jane Horrocks). The series was conceived from the French and Saunders sketch 'Modern Mother and Daughter', originally written by Saunders and Dawn French. Saunders has stated that the character of Edina Monsoon was based upon Lynne Franks, a PR agent whom she had joined on holiday. The first series premiered
Absolutely Fabulous Video, except "The Last Shout" which was released by Vision Video, the final release being in 2002. All episodes have now been released on DVD in the United Kingdom. "White Box" which was released in North America, was never available individually in the UK and was not available until its inclusion in the 2010 "Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything" box set. The North American release "Absolutely Special" has been released in the UK as two separate releases: "The Last Shout" and "Gay". All releases in the UK were distributed by BBC Video except "The Last Shout" which was released by Vision