Julia Sawalha at the Lamb and Flag, whom Richie tries to woo by boasting of his false adventures in the Falklands. From 1991–94, she starred in the ITV family comedy "Second Thoughts" and continued with her character, Hannah (Lynda Bellingham's daughter), in the British Comedy Award-winning "Faith in the Future" (1995–98). In 1994, she played Mercy (Merry) Pecksniff in the BBC production of "Martin Chuzzlewit". From 1992 to 2012, Sawalha played strait-laced daughter Saffron Monsoon in the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" alongside Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. She appeared in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" as Lydia
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie would direct, with Jon Plowman and Damian Jones as producers and Saunders, French and Maureen Vincent as executive producers. Deadline.com later reported that Christine Langan, Steve Milne, Christian Eisenbeiss and Nichola Martin were also executive producing, with DanTram Nguyen, Vice President of Production and Katie Goodson-Thomas, Director of Production overseeing the project for Fox . Principal photography on the film began on 12 October 2015 in south of France. The BBC and Fox Searchlight subsequently released a promotional image of Saunders and Lumley in character on a yacht. Along with Sawalha, Whitfield and Horrocks, Kathy Burke was confirmed to be