I never thought I'd be typing this but Absolutely Fabulous Series 5 is far from good. There are some funny moments but the plots and characters have reached certain points that I think ruin the show.

Most notably, Saffy getting pregnant - The beginning of the end of the situation of this comedy. Having a child means Saffy is no longer part of that grotesque eternal triangle she unwillingly shares with Edina and Patsy. She'll be moving on with new priorities, bursting the bubble and wrecking the formula.
Secondly, everything about John, the father of Saffy's child, is just plain annoying. He is given nothing interesting to say and seems a very one-dimensional character. He's also played by a man (Felix Dexter) who is too old for Saffy and for the student dippyness he portrays. If Saffy was ever going to "escape" from Edina and Patsy, I would have liked it to be on a high note. The way it's been written, I want to slap Saffy for her poor decisions. Before you accuse me of being mean, think of how unkind Saffy is to her friend, Sarah. Lifelong chums and Saffy suddenly indulges in unforgivable spite towards her. Ok, this was Jennifer Saunder' fault as the writer and JS further crime is to subsequently depict Sarah as a stalker of Emma Bunton. Horrid.

I hate to say it, but the overall effect of this series is that we leave Ab Fab with everything sewn up the wrong way. I imagine big fans will want to buy this series in order to have the complete set but anyone thinking of buying for entertainment purposes may be disappointed.

After reading some reviews claiming that this series fails to live up to the high standards of previous ones, I was prepared to be disappointed, but I wasn't. The fact that the characters have "moved on" in their lives doesn't seem unreasonable, and allows for new comedic situations, rather than just revisiting the same old issues. I found the series to be just as hilarious as earlier episodes, and such a welcome relief from the childish and formulaic drivel that passes for sitcoms in the US.
Here's one heads-up for anyone who, like me, will be playing the DVD on a multi-region machine: make sure that your player can handle the 16:9 aspect ratio of this recording! Luckily, mine can, but it took me by surprise. (The NTSC version of the DVD has a 4:3 aspect ratio.)

Unfortunately this was a really dreadful series. I mean Saffy getting pregnant. It has had its day now and you can tell JS is running out of ideas. Some of it did have funny bits in but the whole basic plot that made is popular has been spoilt. And the Christmas ep wasn't funny 1 bit

Don't get me wrong, I found this series funny...but not as funny as previous outings. I think it's true when people say that when a sitcom starts to change in ways of new characters or others leaving or changing, it starts to lose the viewers interest. I confess when watching this on TV I flicked to other channels.
Although the DVD isn't unplesant and you would watch it more than once. I just hoped this was Ab Fab's last outing as the 2004/2005 Xmas special was extremely poor. I don't even remember laughing at it. And, going slightly off topic, The Vicar Of Dibly wasn't that good either.
It's been fun French and Saunders but enough is enough.

Why must all good things these days inevitably turn to crap? Like many Ab Fab fans out there I was sorely disappointed by the latest (5th) series. The guest stars' characters are horrible... (ok, maybe that's what they were going for) But the total change in direction of the characters and events?! Worst of all the infuriatingly annoying eyesore idiot Saffy gets pregnant with and drags back home from her latest charity trip completely ruined half the episodes, which otherwise might have been all right. Episodes I did enjoy, however, were Panickin', Huntin' Fishin'& Shootin' and Schmoozin'. They are the only reason I hung on to the DVD. Could this be the undignified end of Ab Fab??