Season 5 opens with Saffy being away in Africa doing voluntary work, Eddy having obtained a posh new bathroom but the rest of the house is a mess. Ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton, one of Eddy's new clients, comes to visit.
It's decidedly bawdy and brash and certainly not family viewing. And you'd never invite Patsy and Eddy over to your place. But if you're looking for a laugh, this is absolutely still a fabulous show to watch.
The performances of all the intrepid actresses of this piece remain unflagging and expert, though Lumley, whose Patsy always combines raucous slapstick with cool underplaying, is stretching here and there to preserve her one-of-a-kind acerbity.
The fifth season and White Box make a fitting end to the fable that Absolutely Fabulous is but the moral of any fable isn't that enjoyable even if it is necessary and fitting.
