A little bit more of French & Saunders
FRENCH and Saunders are to get together again as a double act for the first time in 10 years.
Our most successful female comedy duo are making a Christmas special to mark 30 years since their sketch shows began in 1987.
Dawn, 59, says they have already started work on the project, likely to air on BBC1 on Christmas Day.
She tells us: “There’s some Handmaid’s Tale in there. We had fun with some of the costumes.”
Other sketches will parody the antics seen on boozy reality shows filmed in holiday resorts.
She says: “I am shocked by how [some women] behave. You reckon they’d want to meet someone who would love, cherish and respect them. But instead they go out and get utterly hammered and are sh*gging in a bush and coming out and going ‘Yes!’ like men.”
The pair’s TV sketch shows ran on and off for 20 years, with the last series in 2007 entitled A Bucket O’French and Saunders.
Dawn said afterwards: “The whole double act is an extension of our friendship, which still remains. We will be making each other laugh for ever but just not in front of an audience.”
Jennifer, also 59, says: “Taking the p*** out of people is a young person’s thing. It can start to look a bit tragic and bitter.”
Dawn’s ex-husband Lenny Henry said their decision to quit working together was premature. Speaking in 2008 during their final theatre show, Still Alive, he said: “What is all this about them stopping? Who says they should stop?
“I have been in nearly every French and Saunders audience over the years and I don’t think they should.”
Earlier this year the pair made a brief appearance together when they spoofed Carpool Karaoke for Comic Relief. And over the years they have parodied films including Misery, Titanic, Thelma & Louise, Harry Potter, and Silence of the Lambs, as well as mocking pop stars Madonna and Britney Spears.
The BBC said more details would be revealed “in due course”.