• Series: Absolutely Fabulous

• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Comedy of Manners, Sitcom
• Themes: Eccentric Families, Parenthood, Suburban Dysfunction
• Director: Bob Spiers
• Release Year: 1996
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 52 minutes

Plot

Life continues apace for Edina (Jennifer Saunders), Patsy (Joanna Lumley), and Saffron (Julia Sawalha). Eddy has adopted a dolphin as both house pet and PR client; Pats has moved out of Odd Bins to make room for a new liquor aisle; and Saffy has finally found a boyfriend -- the wealthy, condescending Paolo Carlo (Tom Hollander). Mother (June Whitfield), meanwhile, has taken up with a cadre of in-your-face, elderly "snowbirds," while Bubble (Jane Horrocks) is out of the picture, busy with her new job at French Vogue. Pats and Eddy decide to vacation in Val d'sere, which, as with their earlier vacations in Absolutely Fabulous: France and Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco, turns out to be less welcoming than they'd hoped. While Pats takes up with a hunky ski instructor, Eddy has a near-death experience out on the slopes in which God appears to her in the form of Marianne Faithfull. Convinced she has been spared for some larger purpose, Eddy returns home to find that her mother's new friends have taken up residence in their camper van in the front drive. A more pressing concern arrives in the form of Saffy's engagement to Paolo; a meeting between the Monsoon clan and the mega-rich Carlo family goes poorly at first, but when Patsy realizes that Paolo's mother, Kalishia (Carmen Du Sautoy), is actually a former B-movie bimbo, the fearful society matron finds herself de-fanged. Soon life is a blur of wedding preparations, from fittings at Christian Lacroix's designer boutique to involuntary depilatory sessions forced on the hapless bride-to-be. The action climaxes at the ceremony itself, where the guests include a who's who of previous "AbFab" guest stars. Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout was originally broadcast as a two-part TV movie on BBC 1 in 1996, a year after the end of the third "AbFab" series. It would be the last installment until series four began in 2001. Former Shakespear's Sister member Marcella Detroit appears as God's angelic sidekick; the singer also contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including a new rendition of the show's unmistakable theme music, "This Wheel's on Fire." Nickey Clarke, Suzy Menkes, Bruce Oldfield, Christopher Biggins, and Lacroix appear as themselves. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Cast

Christopher Biggins - Himself
Dora Bryan - Millie
Ed Devereaux - Mac
Carmen Du Sautoy - Kalishia
Marianne Faithfull - God
Mo Gaffney - Bo
Joanna Lumley - Patsy Stone
Christopher Malcolm - Justin
Jennifer Saunders - Edina Monsoon
Alan Talbot - Carlo
Christopher Ryan - Marshall
Gary Beadle - Oliver
Harriet Thorpe - Fleur
Kathy Burke - Magda
Julia Sawalha - Saffron
June Whitfield - Mother/Gran
Naoko Mori - Sarah
Helen Lederer - Catriona
Tom Hollander - Paolo
Christian Lacroix - Himself
Connor Burrows - Choirboy
Nickey Clarke - Himself
Marcella Detroit - Angel
Georgina Grenville - Gucci Girl
Candida Gubbins - Shop Assistant
Sue Lawley - Herself
Calum Macleod - Vicar
Suzy Menkes - Herself
Bruce Oldfield - Himself

Credit

Jennifer Saunders - Screenwriter; Jon Plowman - Producer; Bob Spiers - Director