Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders delighted fans of “Absolutely Fabulous” on Tuesday by making a joint appearance at the BFI Southbank in London. They were there for a special screening of the upcoming Amandaland Christmas episode.

This festive installment marks the reunion of the beloved comedy duo on screen for the first time since their collaboration on the “Ab Fab” movie in 2016.

In this latest project, Joanna Lumley, now 79, takes on the role of Felicity Sanderson, the formidable mother of the series’ main character, portrayed by Lucy Punch.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Saunders, 67, makes a guest appearance as Joan, Felicity’s sister. Joan is depicted as the polar opposite of her sibling, embodying an energetic mix of country charm and upper-class eccentricity.

Expressing her excitement, Saunders shared, “I am delighted to be joining the fabulous Amandaland gang for a Christmas special.” Her enthusiasm is sure to resonate with fans eagerly anticipating this comedic reunion.

‘Playing Joanna’s on-screen sister is guaranteed to be a laugh, who doesn’t love a family reunion SoHa style!’ 

Joanna Lumley (left) and Jennifer Saunders (right) thrilled Absolutely Fabulous fans on Tuesday, as they arrived together for a screening of the Amandaland Christmas special at London’s BFI Southbank

Joanna, 79, stars in the BBC sitcom as Felicity Sanderson, the wicked mother of the titular character, while pal Jennifer, 67, will be guest-starring as Felicity’s sister Joan (seen in special)

The festive episode of the Motherland spin-off will be the first time the comedy duo will be sharing the screen together since the 2016 Ab Fab movie (seen in AbFab in 1992)

The French and Saunders star also heaped praise on the hit show’s writers, saying: ‘I read the script and I was like, this is it. This is great. 

‘It’s just really well written. Proper character jokes and funny performances, plenty of falling over. I think it’s just terrific. I love it.’

While fans expecting Felicity and Joan to be Eddie Monsoon and Patsy Stone 2.0 will be disappointed, as Joanna stressed: ‘We were playing characters as far from Edina and Patsy as can be imagined.’

However, she voiced her joy at being back on set with her pal, saying: ‘Everyone adored having her there, especially me, and it all felt empty when the Christmas episode was over and she had gone.’

But while the two stars were delighted to be back together, the Christmas special will see their characters be less excited to be reunited.

The official synopsis reads: ‘Amanda and the family head to Aunt Joan’s country house, but the plans change when Mal and Anne tag along and she struggles to recreate the magical Christmases she spent there as a child.

‘Anne’s in despair at being separated from her family, and Felicity is increasingly irritated by her sister’s constant high spirits. Meanwhile Mal sees a hidden photo that seems to reveal a deep family secret…’

Amandaland follows the life of a recently divorced mum Amanda, who is trying to juggle looking after her children, a new relationship and friendships with the parents at her kid’s school. 

While fans expecting Felicity and Joan to be Eddie Monsoon and Patsy Stone 2.0 will be disappointed, as Joanna stressed: ‘W e were playing characters as far from Edina and Patsy as can be imagined’

Amandaland follows the life of a recently divorced mum Amanda, who is trying to juggle looking after her children, a new relationship and friendships with the parents at her kid’s school (seen in special)

Arriving at the screening, Lucy looked effortlessly chic in a cream satin blouse and a velvet bowtie, teamed with black bermuda shorts and leather knee-high boots 

While Phillippa cut a trendy figure in a pair of fashionable animal print jeans and a black turtleneck with a trio of gold necklaces

Samuel dressed to impress for the evening in a smart herringbone coat and burgundy button-up, complete with a bowler hat and multicoloured scarf

First premiering in February, the show was a huge hit, averaging 6.4million views and has becoming the BBC’s second biggest comedy launch, with the broadcaster confirming it would be returning for a second series.

It is a spin-off of popular sitcom Motherland, which ran for three seasons between 2016 and 2022 and was created by the same team Holly Walsh, Sharon Horgan, Helen Serafinowicz, Barunka O’Shaughnessy and Laurence Rickard.

Alongside Lucy and Joanna, it stars Phillippa Dunne as Anne Flynn, Samuel Anderson as Mal, Siobhán McSweeney as Della Fry, Rochenda Sandall as Fi and Ekow Quartey as JJ. 

Arriving at the screening, Lucy looked effortlessly chic in a cream satin blouse and a velvet bowtie, teamed with black bermuda shorts and leather knee-high boots.

While Phillippa cut a trendy figure in a pair of fashionable animal print jeans and a black turtleneck with a trio of gold necklaces.

Samuel dressed to impress for the evening in a smart herringbone coat and burgundy button-up, complete with a bowler hat and multicoloured scarf.

Speaking about the Christmas special, Lucy said: ‘I’m beyond excited to get started on Amandaland series two with our brilliantly talented lovely cast.

‘The Christmas special is going to be an absolute cracker – it’s like totes fire, with all the festive feels, for reals. Slay bells!’

The first trailer for the highly-anticipated for the Amandaland Christmasspecial was released last week, showing Amanda, her family and pals Mal and Anne heading over to aunt Joan’s c ountryhouse

Speaking about the Christmas special, Lucy said: ‘The Christmas special is going to be an absolute cracker – it’s like totes fire, with all the festive feels, for reals. Slay bells!’

The first trailer for the highly-anticipated for the Amandaland Christmas special was released last week, showing Amanda, her family and pals Mal and Anne heading over to aunt Joan’s countryhouse.

But while Joan is over the moon to see Amanda, her mum Felicity doesn’t appear to be that excited.

In one clip, Amanda can be seen giving her aunt a gift, as a shocked Anne asks her: ‘Didn’t I just gift you that?’ while Amanda simply replies: ‘Yes.’

In another scene Anne can be seen telling Mal: ‘I really think Amanda deserves to know,’ only to be interrupted by Amanda popping her head through the door and demanding: ‘What do I deserve to know?’ 

The Amandaland Christmas Special will air on Christmas Day at 9:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer

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