"Modern Mother and Daughter" is a sketch from the third series of ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...

'', written by and starring Dawn French and

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...

. The sketch later served as the basis of Saunders' sitcom ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

'' in 1992.

Plot

Saffron is an ordinary teenager, busy completing her homework in her bedroom one evening. Her mother, Adriana, enters, dressed in a brightly-printed

kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's ...

, with an acid house-inspired outfit underneath. Adriana tries several times to persuade Saffron to join her party downstairs, inviting her to "share a

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

" with her and her guests, to Saffron's disapproval. Adriana continues her attention-seeking questioning, disrupting her daughter's attempts to complete her homework. She questions Saffron's university plans – studying

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, her reluctance to join her mother on holiday, and her warm relationship with her father. (Adriana, by contrast, has nothing but hostility towards her ex-husband.) The sketch ends with Adriana saying she's "hoping" her boyfriend Jean-Pierre will stay over, to which Saffron hands a pack of condoms to her mother, saying she was aware her mother had run out of them.

Writing

The sketch transposes the traditional roles of mother and daughter, with the daughter behaving and dressing conventionally while the mother rebels. This characterisation and the relationship between the two characters was later carried over into Saunders' sitcom ''

''. In the series, Saunders reprised her role as the mother, renamed

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...

, while

Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...

played her role as the daughter, Saffron, replacing French. Lines from the sketch were reused in the series, such as Adriana's insistence that it is possible to be a socialist while employing household staff, and Saffron's nickname from her mother of "Sweetie".

References

Citations

External links

IMDB record for French & Saunders episode
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modern Mother and Daughter Comedy sketches Absolutely Fabulous 1990 in British television