French and Saunders broadcast on 9 March 1987 on BBC Two, with the first series consisting of six episodes. With its popularity and high ratings, a second series commenced on 4 March 1988, followed by a Christmas special in late 1988. The third, fourth and fifth series', which broadcast between 1990 and 1996, and all consisting each of seven episodes, relied heavily on movie parodies, and some music parodies, alongside their own material such as the sketch "Modern Day Mother and Daughter" which spawned Saunders' popular sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" in 1992. Classic movies parodied include "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "The Exorcist",
Decline and Fall of novel I would like to have written". The novel was dramatised as the 1969 film, "Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher" starring Robin Phillips and also by Jeremy Front in a 2008 BBC Radio 4 production starring Alistair McGowan as Pennyfeather, Jim Broadbent as Grimes, Andrew Sachs as Prendergast, Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Fagan, Jonathan Kidd as Philbrick, Joanna David as Margot Beste-Chetwynde, Emma Fielding as Flossie, and Richard Pearce as Peter. In 2017 the BBC produced a three-part TV dramatisation starring Jack Whitehall as Paul Pennyfeather, David Suchet as Dr Fagan, Eva Longoria as Margot Beste-Chetwynde, Douglas Hodge