Joanna Lumley David McCallum. Conceived as ITV's answer to "Doctor Who", Lumley played a mysterious elemental being ("Sapphire") who, with her collaborator, "Steel", dealt with breaches in the fabric of time. In 1986, television producer Sydney Newman suggested Lumley for the role of the Doctor but his idea was dismissed. Over a decade later Lumley's career was boosted by her portrayal of the louche, selfish and frequently drunk fashion director Patsy Stone, companion to Jennifer Saunders' Edina Monsoon in the BBC comedy television series "Absolutely Fabulous" (1992–1996, 2001–2004, 2011–2012). "" was released in 2016. In 1994 and 1995 Lumley starred alongside Nadine
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