Paris: Absolutely Fabulous (TV Episode)

Plot

Edina (Jennifer Saunders) is set to appear in a mother/daughter fashion spread to be shot in France for a glam magazine; after she fails to secure Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsdale, or Liv Tyler to play her daughter, she faces the realization that real-life daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha) will have to do. Patsy (Joanna Lumley) also plans to pose, with "face of the moment" Erin O'Connor as her fashion "daughter." Bubble (Jane Horrocks) tags along, but editor Candida de Benison-Bender (Tilly Blackwood) has to bail, leaving the gang in the hands of Dazed and Confused photographer Rimmer (Dave Gorman). After a quarrelsome ride on the Eurostar, the group arrives in Paris, where it turns out that Rimmer plans a generation-spanning neo-punk group fashion spread; Annegret Tree, on whose coattails Patsy briefly trod in the '60s, is one of the models. As Pats disrupts the proceedings and annoys Rimmer, Eddy and Saffy quarrel in a nearby café. After Eddy unflatteringly compares Saffy to Mother (June Whitfield), the previously guidebook-bound Saf agrees to do Paris her mum's way. The pair shop, dine at tony eateries, and head to the Eiffel Tower to flash their breasts at the world; Saffy, however, fails to realize she hasn't completely escaped her obligation to appear in print. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on September 14, 2001, Absolutely Fabulous: Paris marked series four, episode two of this popular Britcom. Models Tree, O'Connor, and Daphne Selfe appear as themselves, as do jazz musician Sacha Distel and designer Christian Lacroix; Lacroix previously appeared in Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout. Hermine Demoriane sings a French version of the theme song "This Wheel's on Fire" over the closing credits. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi