The Singapore Grip’s Jane Horrocks says hilarious Nineties sitcom Absolutely Fabulous ‘wouldn’t be made now’
SHE’S playing a toff in ITV’s big period drama, so it’s easy to forget Jane Horrocks once had us in stitches as dopey Northerner Bubble in comedy Absolutely Fabulous.
But the actress, who stars as upper-class Sylvia Blackett in Sunday night war thriller The Singapore Grip, reckons they probably couldn’t make the outrageous Nineties sitcom in today’s sensitive TV world.
Jane says meddling bosses would now bar creator Jennifer Saunders from writing some of the most scandalous plots and punchlines from the series, which first hit screens in 1992.
She said: “When Jennifer started writing Ab Fab, in the first few series nobody bothered her at all. She had free rein to write what she wanted and there were no producers who interfered with her work.
“They didn’t say, ‘You can’t write that’, or, ‘You have to write that’. I think that she personally would have a very different experience writing for today’s television because I don’t think she would be allowed free rein.
“I think Jennifer might struggle with the restrictions she would have to adhere to.”
And Jane thinks her character of Bubble — personal assistant to Jennifer’s Edina — would have faced the chop as she could be considered too much of a stereotype.
Her claim follows the pulling from our screens of episodes of classic BBC comedies Fawlty Towers and Little Britain because they were deemed politically incorrect.
To be fair, looking back at Jennifer’s series, it does seem pretty out-there.
But if being that sensitive prevents the next Ab Fab from being made, it’s a sad day for telly.
bizbit
ITV, Sky and STV have joined together to back The Daily Mile campaign to help children get fit and active.
They have made a £10million commitment and it started last night with adverts shown during Emmerdale.
Palace are net amused
STAFF at Buckingham Palace have been left fuming after hit Netflix drama The Crown was BANNED from their Sunday night cinema club.
Period drama Downton Abbey was given the green light, even though the film version of the ITV series centres around a fictional royal visit.
A source said: “Every Sunday night, palace staff are invited down to watch a movie in the basement cinema.
“But while other box sets have been screened, The Crown has not been screened once. Everyone is gutted.”
Beeb reporter Emily Maitlis was surprised when she saw a room at the palace being made into a cinema after her car-crash interview with Prince Andrew late last year.
A staffer told her: “We had Downton Abbey last week. But we don’t do The Crown here.”
I bet the staff know the truth of the tales shown in it.
bizbit
COMEDY Malcolm In The Middle, which ran for six years from 2000, will be available on All 4 from October 2.
It tells the story of Malcolm and his dysfunctional family, which includes Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as the dad.
Jessica hitched
DOWNTON Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay has secretly tied the knot. The actress, who played Lady Sybil, married fellow actor Ziggy Heath at the weekend after three years together.
They had a church ceremony on Saturday and revealed their news with a series of photos from the day posted to her Instagram.
Jessica captioned it: “(Love) wins every time. A weekend of dreams.
“Small celebrations felt HUGE. And what a birthday! X I love you.”
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Jenna is totes a queen
PLAYING Queen Victoria has clearly rubbed off on Jenna Coleman as she stepped out in London with a Union flag handbag.
She was seen in Kensington with the Dior tote filled to the brim, following her split from co-star Tom Hughes, who plays the monarch’s consort Prince Albert in the hit ITV drama.
The pair recently ended the four-year relationship, with both moving out of their shared London home last week.
Michael states his case
AFTER years as a TV mainstay here, Michael McIntyre is trying to make it big in the States.
But he’s not off to the best of starts.
The comic got himself into a sticky situation when he told a man working at passport control in LA he hoped to “break America”.
Speaking on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, he said: “The phrase, ‘I’m trying to break America’ means nothing to Americans.
“It’s only British people who try to break America. People who live in America don’t break America.
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“He heard the words, ‘I want to break America’ and he went, ‘You want to break America, sir?’
“And I was like, ‘Yes, I’m going to smash it’. All these hostile terms. He thought I was a terrorist, basically.”
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