Absolutely Fabulous-Series 2 (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Gallery-Photo Outtakes
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	176:48
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (97:11)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Bob Spiers
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jennifer Saunders Joanna Lumley Julia Sawalha June Whitfield
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	Julie Driscoll Adrian Edmonson

    Absolutely Fabulous is yet another comedy series filmed on the cheap by the British Broadcasting Corporation, and one that I frankly find has gradually less replay value every time I watch it. I suspect that this is due to the childish, often irritating antics of its main characters, because some of the jokes are exceptionally well-written, and the guest appearances by such British comedy alumni as Christopher Ryan certainly lend it a touch of class. I suppose that watching the show occasionally is the best way, because familiarity certain does breed contempt here.

    For those who want a rundown of the basic plot, here it goes: Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) is some kind of baron in the fashion industry, although what she actually does with herself on a day-to-day basis is anyone's guess. Her best friend, Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley), also works in the fashion industry, posing as some kind of reporter for a magazine, and sometimes she actually bothers to show up for work. Her daughter, Saffron (Julia Swalha) is the real adult in this triangular relationship, often making apologies to all present for the truly childish antics that her mother puts on from crisis to crisis. They are also frequently visited by a very batty grandmother (June Whitfield) and the occasional ex-husband (Christopher Ryan being one of them), all of whom have their own commentary to share about the life and antics of the anti-hero.

    The list of episodes found in Season Two are as follows:

• Hospital (Season Two, Episode One, 29:11)
  Edina and Patsy are getting into the news again, with Patsy about to be interviewed by Hello! magazine after a torrid, highly publicised affair with a politician. Edina, meanwhile, somehow manages to get a jar stuck on her toe, so they both wind up going in to the local hospital for surgery, making their presence known in true AbFab style.
• Death (Season Two, Episode Two, 29:27)
  Edina's father dies, much to the distress of Saffy, but Edina herself just can't give a damn. She manages to buy a whole collection of art, get sloshed out of her gourd with Patsy, and fall into her father's grave. Needless to say, Mother hopes the graves get filled in before Patsy and Edina sober up enough to climb out. To quote what Edina says to the art dealer: "It all looks like b******, so it must be worth something."
• Morocco (Season Two, Episode Three, 30:02)
  Edina has secured an ad spot in Patsy's magazine for her latest fashion-related disaster - spectacles with interchangeable fluorescent lenses. In order to do the photo shoot, however, she and Patsy must travel to Marrakesh, for reasons that are rationalised in a true AbFab manner. While they're at it, they drag Saffy along so she can get a dose of culture.
• New Best Friend (Season Two, Episode Four, 29:16)
  Old friends of Edina come over for a visit, but she and Patsy remember them as major minimalists, or to quote Patsy herself: "She was so anally retentive she couldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture". So when these guests finally do arrive, and Edina manages to upset Patsy in her quest to "minimalise" her living space, she is stunned to find that her old friends have become an angry married couple with a baby.
• Poor (Season Two, Episode Five, 28:30)
  Edina's ex-husband, the one who fathered Saffy, cuts off all her alimony and maintenance for reasons that are never adequately explained, so Edina is forced to cut down on all her expenses and make the most of every dollar she can get, which has some truly hilarious results. This episode is notable for a cameo by Mark Wing-Davey, the voice of Zaphod from a certain Douglas Adams radio drama, as Malcolm the accountant.
• Birth (Season Two, Episode Six, 29:42)
  After Patsy manages to do extensive fire damage to the Monsoon household by falling asleep with a cigarette in her mouth, Edina and Saffy are stuck with hanging around in the same room with her while the kitchen is redesigned. When Grandma somehow manages to lock them in the room, Edina starts telling Saffy about some of the details of her birth.

    This collection of episodes is a little more coherent in terms of storyline than the previous season, but the one limiting factor in its long-term value is how long you can stand two middle-aged women acting like spoiled children. The show constantly walks a fine line between low-brow humour and sheer annoyance, and I do not even recommend watching two episodes back to back. Still, if you found these episodes funny when taken one at a time, then this disc is for you.

Video

    If you've read my review of Absolutely Fabulous, Season One, or any of the Doctor Who releases to date, then you know what comes next. Suffice it to say that this is another show which the British Broadcasting Corporation shot as cheaply as they could, and every hint of their corner-cutting is visible on DVD.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, as one would expect of a show that was obviously never intended to be seen as anything but an analogue broadcast, and it is not 16x9 Enhanced.

    The transfer is as sharp as you can expect from a television show that was mostly shot on video, and it certainly looks better on this DVD than any other home format one can mention. The shadow detail is limited, but adequate to the show's needs, and there is no low-level noise.

    The colours usually appear stable and well-represented, but they become a little murky during scenes with a lot of smoke in them, which figure prominently during Birth and Morocco. Minor cross-colouration is occasionally evident in car grilles and striped clothes.

    MPEG artefacts were not noticed in this transfer, although the source materials and programme length do push the disc space to the absolute limit. There were numerous instances of film-to-video artefacts, specifically aliasing, in such places as the edge of a table at 2:56 during Episode Four. Film artefacts were not noticed in this transfer, although I feel certain that I may have missed some during the outdoor sequences.

    The English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles on this disc contain some major variations from the spoken dialogue, making it hard for me to endorse this disc to those who require them.

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change taking place during Episode Four at 8:31. This is one of the most conspicuous layer changes I have seen for a long time, placed in the middle of a scene.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Again, the British Broadcasting Corporation's insistence on filming with a budget that only Lloyd Kaufman would find generous introduces severe limitations into what can be done with the audio.

    There is one soundtrack on this DVD: the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 2.0 at 192 kilobits per second.

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at almost all times, although some of the babbling from Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley can get on the nerves. I did not detect any problems with audio sync.

    There is very little music in this series, with the only notable piece being a theme song called This Wheel's On Fire, performed by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmonson. Thankfully, the version found on this DVD is the original, almost pleasant-sounding version, as opposed to the one that sounds like it was recorded by a toothless drunk on The Last Shout.

    The surround channels and subwoofer were not used by this soundtrack at all.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is static, accompanied by Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, and not 16x9 Enhanced.

Photo Gallery

    This photo gallery is unannotated, and basically a series of shots from the episodes, making it of little interest.

Outtakes

    This featurette, entitled Absolutely Not, is a fourteen minute and four second collection of moments when the actors have fluffed their lines. Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound, this is good for an extra giggle, and probably will remain more endearing in the long-term than the programme itself.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    It seems that information about television series on DVD are not easy to find on American sites. However, there does not seem to be any real difference between this DVD and the version sold in the USA. An extensive search of online retailers also failed to turn up any real difference between this version and the Region 2 version, making the local disc the version of choice.

    Absolutely Fabulous is good as a "watch occasionally" thing, but I still question how funny it is to have two complete morons acting this way. Still, with some sublime acting by Julia Swalha as the real adult in the mother-daughter relationship, this is still worth watching every now and again.

    The video transfer is reasonable given the source materials.

    The audio transfer is a good representation of cheaply-recorded source materials.

    The extras are sparse.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall