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Quick Answer: It’s been almost 25 years since Eddy, Patsy and Saffy first appeared in the television series Absolutely Fabulous in 1992. Screenwriter and star Jennifer Saunders wrote Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie so that anyone can watch and enjoy it, but she also threw in references to situations, dialogue and music from the old show as a nod to long-time fans.

Jennifer Saunders, co-writer and star of the original Absolutely Fabulous (1992 – 2012), wrote Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016) so that both old fans of the show and new moviegoers can watch and enjoy it.

If you’ve seen Ab Fab in theatres, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with the old television show. But maybe you haven’t seen it in years, or you’ve seen a couple of episodes but aren’t a die-hard fan. Or maybe you’ve never even heard of the show. But even if you’ve seen the whole series it’s easy to miss some minor references to the original show – after all, it’s been almost 25 years since Eddy, Patsy and Saffy were first on television. Here is a list of some of the throwbacks that you might have missed in the Ab Fab movie:

Edina “Eddy” Monsoon

Ever since the first episode of the Absolutely Fabulous series, Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) has exited cars bum-first when she is drunk. In fact, in “Fashion” (Season 1, Episode 1) viewers watch her exit a car this way in a flashback, indicating that she has been doing since at least the 1970s. Keeping with tradition, the movie keeps this long-standing gag alive by having her fall out of a car.

Jennifer Saunders in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)

Eddy has been a Buddhist since the show’s beginning, so while it was a little surprising to see her take out her frustrations on her Buddha statue in the film, it’s no surprise that she’s still practicing. She also still engages in another practice of hers: constantly renovating her house. In the series Eddy has been shown replacing a burned kitchen, turning her son’s room into a walk-in closet and even adding a lap pool to her bedroom. In fact, in “White Box” (the 2004 Christmas special) her daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha) complains that the house is never completed. Eddy’s house has likely been drastically renovated in the interim since audiences have last seen it, but it is still recognizable as her home from the TV show. However there is now a small pool and the staircase does look inexplicably longer now, hence the joke when Patsy says the staircase seems longer than it used to.

Patsy Stone

For almost the entire series it has been hinted that Patsy (Joanna Lumley) had a sex change while in Morocco in the 1970s, but that – according to Eddy in “Morocco” (Season 2, Episode 3) – “it fell off” after a year. Sometimes the hints have been less than subtle, such as in “White Box” when Nathan Lane gives Patsy a look while saying the term “lady-man,” and in “Shmoozin’” (Season 5, Episode 6) when Patsy says she spent a night with Elton John, who later says he thinks he knew her when she was a man. Add this backstory to Patsy’s lack of traditional morals and general easy-going attitude towards sex, and it is completely believable that she would don a suit and slap on a mustache to trick an old woman into marrying her so that she and Eddy could live on the inheritance.

Joanna Lumley as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)

Patsy is a vain woman with an addictive personality, and always has been. While theater audiences may be surprised to see Patsy performing her own Botox shots, she has in fact been injecting things into her face (and sometimes Eddy’s) since the original show.

Another nod to the original show is the “Gabon” bit, in which Patsy calls to Eddy (who is talking to Saffy) to ask if John Johnson (Saffy’s ex-husband) is in Gabon. The same set-up is in “Cold Turkey” (Season 5, Episode 8), except Patsy is asking if he is from Gabon rather than in Gabon.

Patsy has also hated Saffy since she was born (or before, according to Patsy), and she makes her dislike known through a series of creative insults. In the movie, Patsy refers to Saffy as a “little bitch troll from hell,” but this isn’t the first time she’s called her that. Patsy first calls her this in “Birth” (Season 2, Episode 6), and this phrase is then quoted by Saffy in her autobiographical play in “Small Openings” (Season 4, Episode 5). This particular insult is an audience favorite from the show, and so it was an obvious choice to include in the movie.

Bo and Marshall Turtle

Marshall (Christopher Ryan) is Eddy’s ex-husband, who had a tendency to reinvent himself in nearly every episode of the original series. Audiences are introduced to him in “Birthday” (Season 1, Episode 5) as a hypoglycemic, alcoholic, drug-addicted playwright who only eats foods that are first crushed by his girlfriend Bo (Mo Gaffney). In “Cold Turkey” (Season 5, Episode 8) he is the spokesman for the Christian weight loss product StayLean, and in “White Box” he is the juvenile lead in a West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In “Small Openings” (Season 4, Episode 5) he is a Rabbi, while in “Birthin’” (Season 5, Episode 5) he runs a Christian family creation service in Hollywood. In the show’s final episode to date, “Olympics” (Season 6, Episode 3), he is the caddy for Michael Douglas. So it is no surprise to the seasoned fan that when the couple shows up in the movie he is going through yet another life change.

Rabbi Marshall (Christopher Ryan) and Bo in (Mo Gaffney) “Small Openings” (S4:E5)

Jane Horrocks

Bubble is known for her outrageous outfits, dim wits and funny voices. But what audiences may not know is that actress Jane Horrocks is a famously talented vocal impersonator. Her mimicry of many great singers (such as Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Bassey, Ethel Mermen and Judy Garland) is so good that the play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and the movie adaptation Little Voice (1998) – which also includes a young Ewan McGregor, Michael Caine, and Jim Broadbent – were written specifically to showcase her talents. The first song she sings on stage in Little Voice is “Big Spender” (from the musical Sweet Charity), which is the song she performs (though not as Bubble) in the Ab Fab movie.

Patsy’s Peers

The woman in white at Huki Muki’s fashion show is Magda (Kathy Burke) who was the editor-in-chief at Ella Magazine, where Patsy was the fashion director. Later, when Eddy and Patsy need help sneaking out of the house, it is two other colleagues from Ella – ex-makeup editor Fleur (Harriet Thorpe) and ex-features editor Catriona (Helen Lederer) – who come to the rescue. Ella closed in Season 3, and while all four staff members have moved on with their lives they’ve clearly kept in touch over the years.

Catriona, Fleur, Eddy, Magda, and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous (1992 - 2012)

Claudia Bing

Claudia (bloody) Bing has been the bane of Eddy’s existence for a long, long time. She stole Eddy’s PR award (for which Eddy paid the judges so that she would win), her customers and her business. So to have Claudia Bing be the person trying to swipe Kate Moss out of Eddy’s grasp, not to mention the one who started the rumor that Eddy pushed Kate Moss into the Thames, is hilariously appropriate for the audience and par for the course for Eddy.

The Nurse

The nurse played by Llewella Gideon has gone through many changes throughout the show; she started as a hospital nurse in “Hospital” (Season 2, Episode 1), gave Eddy a full body mud wrap in “Death” (Season 2, Episode 2) and a spray tan in “Cleanin’” (Season 5, Episode 1), and was a beautician in “Job” (Season 6, Episode 2). But one thing has never changed – she always teases Eddy about her weight and fashion sense.

Stella McCartney

When Stella McCartney sees Eddy at the Huki Muki event, her first reaction is to make sure Eddy isn’t wearing clothes she designed. This is because Eddy is more than a little Stella-obsessed; if there is anything that Eddy wants, it’s to be loved by Stella McCartney and to wear her clothes. She is frequently seen trying to either meet McCartney or get into her shop, and even includes a line about her and Stella being best friends in her song “Walking Down the Road” (Season 4, Episode 1). In “Olympics” (Season 6, Episode 3) McCartney tells someone Eddy’s “been a nightmare. She’s been stalking me.” This is why in the movie Eddy fondly looks at the brick McCartney has lobbed through her window and says “it’s the first thing I’ve ever had from Stella.”

Fashion designer Stella McCartney

Celebrity Cameos

One of Eddy’s habits is singing variations of a song that she originally made up in “Paradox” (Season 4, Episode 1):

I’m walking down the road,
Just people say hello,
Say you’re looking great,
I say “thank you”
Your hair is so great…
I say “thank you ”
But I’m just… walking down the road.
They say “are you Stella McCartney’s best mate?”
I say “yeah thank you,” so cool…
Walking down the road…

The most memorable version of the song is performed by Elly Jackson of La Roux in a dream sequence in “Job” (Season 6, Episode 2), which may explain Jackson’s cameo in the film.

Another surprising cameo in the film is Emma Bunton, a.k.a “Baby Spice” of Spice Girls fame. If you’re not familiar with the series, you may be perplexed to see Saffy speak so casually with Emma. But Emma, along with the model Twiggy and singer Lulu, is a long-time client of Eddy’s. Additionally, in “Cleanin’” (Season 5, Episode 1) Emma mentions she went to school with Saffy, and that Saffy was a brilliant head girl. Emma attends Saffy’s baby shower, and often speaks candidly with Saffy about Eddy. While they may not be best friends, they are certainly close enough for Saffy to ask Emma in the movie to babysit so that Saffy can search for Eddy.

Saffy, Emma, and Sarah at Saffy’s baby shower in Absolutely Fabulous (1992 - 2012)

The most clandestine cameo of the film may be Dawn French’s. French was a writer for the original show, which was actually being based on a skit that French and Saunders did together on their television show French and Saunders (1987 – 2007). French made one appearance on Absolutely Fabulous as the television show host Kathy in “Magazine” (Season 1, Episode 5). She reprises this role in the movie, conducting an interview after the Kate Moss’ disappearance.

While these references aren’t necessary to enjoy the movie, having a little bit of background information may help clarify some relationships and situations, or explain some of the superstar cameos in the film. Having references to the original show helps bring these characters to life on the big screen for old fans, showing them that while decades have passed these are still the same alcoholic, self-centered, fashion-crazed characters fans have always loved.