--- title: Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol description: Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC TV series that ran from 1992 to 1995 (with a few subsequent resurrections), served up whole wardrobes' worth of ruthless, bad-gal... canonical: https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/ author: Stephanie Zacharek article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-21T09:59:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:25:34.078Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol og:description: Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC TV series that ran from 1992 to 1995 (with a few subsequent resurrections), served up whole wardrobes' worth of ruthless, bad-gal... og:url: https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol twitter:description: Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC TV series that ran from 1992 to 1995 (with a few subsequent resurrections), served up whole wardrobes' worth of ruthless, bad-gal... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Jul 21, 2016 9:59 AM UTC  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Jul 21, 2016 9:59 AM UTC _Absolutely Fabulous_, the BBC TV series that ran from 1992 to 1995 (with a few subsequent resurrections), served up whole wardrobes’ worth of ruthless, bad-gal humor: Jennifer Saunders’ PR agent Edina Monsoon and Joanna Lumley’s magazine editor Patsy Stone were catty, boozy, druggy pals who just couldn’t let go of their swinging youth. Fans found their unchecked bad behavior, and their wild outfits, freeing. Each episode was a small, potent ampoule of vitriol. Now Edina and Patsy are back with _Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie_, and this dose of hot-pink poison is just too much. Edina and Patsy are older, and it’s terrible. They’ve run out of money, which may be worse. Their withering wisecracks should be funnier than they are, and their fashion-victim flamboyance now only makes them look pathetic. It doesn’t matter how much jewelry they pile on. Ugliness shines from within. –S.Z. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/"},"headline":"Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol","datePublished":"2016-07-21T09:59:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:25:34.078Z","description":"Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC TV series that ran from 1992 to 1995 (with a few subsequent resurrections), served up whole wardrobes' worth of ruthless, bad-gal...","url":"https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Zacharek","jobTitle":"Film Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4416669/big-screen-ab-fab-ods-on-vitriol/","name":"Big-Screen Ab Fab ODs on Vitriol"}}]}] ```