Jennifer Saunders wanted an absolutely cadaverous ending for her creations Patsy and Eddie, Joanna Lumley has revealed.
Joanna, 72, who played Absolutely Fabulous fashion editor Patsy Stone, said she quickly talked Saunders out of killing off the much-loved characters.
It means Patsy and PR guru Edina Monsoon could still potentially return to our screens.
She recalled: “Jennifer said, ‘Shall we just kill them off and bury them?’ – I never fired off an email so quick in my life.
“I said, ‘No, we promised the world we will never die. We can’t die, Patsy and Eddie – we can’t die.”
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Heaping praise on her character in the hit sitcom, Joanna said: “I really love Patsy. She’s like the Road Runner, like Wile E Coyote.
“Whenever she’s smacked down or everything had gone wrong she’d spring up again with a nice hairdo and Betty Jackson clothes. I adored her. She is gender fluid.”
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Whether or not Patsy makes a comeback, Joanna says she has no plans to retire from acting – even if it means only getting small roles.
She told the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival: “I could never give up. If I was waiting for a very good part I’d be dead in the water. I get offered small parts, mad aunts, which is not surprising.
“So I hang on just in case they say, ‘Judi Dench? No, let’s go for Joanna Lumley.”
