One of British television's most iconic characters is Joanna Lumley's Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous – and she is not opposed to making a comeback. The actress, now 80, first stepped into Patsy's inimitable shoes as the champagne-swilling, chain-smoking PR guru in 1992 and last reprised the beloved BBC character in 2016 for the much-anticipated Absolutely Fabulous Movie, which was released four years after the long-running sitcom ended in 2012.
In a new interview marking the 10th anniversary of the film, Joanna said she would 'jump' at the chance to reprise the role. She told OK magazine: 'If Jennifer [Saunders] told me tomorrow that she's written the scripts, I'd jump at the chance. I loved every minute of playing Patsy. Any actress who said she wouldn't is lying through her teeth!'
The beloved comedy duo did reunite for the 2025 Amandaland Christmas special, with Joanna taking action to ensure it happened. She revealed: 'I've got to say, when I heard the notion that they were hoping for Jennifer, I actually emailed her and said, "If the script comes your way, do it or I'll have to kill you." Because I knew she'd take the pants off it.'
Fans of the Absolutely Fabulous actress will not have to wait long to see Joanna on screen again. She is returning to reprise her Amandaland role of Felicity in the show's second season, set to air this week. The season's synopsis reads: 'Amanda is still living in Soha and still juggling teenagers, her online Senuous brand and her co-lab. But while she's resigned to staying put, she has big plans to upscale.'
Elsewhere in her interview, Joanna said that getting older does not bother her in the slightest. She stressed that she is always looking forward to her next adventure rather than looking back. Despite having got her big break as a Bond girl in 1969, it was Patsy who made Joanna a household name. She joked: 'To this day, wherever I go in the world, there is always a gaggle of Patsy fans, often dolled up to the nines and looking terribly glamorous. Very few females. Mostly men!' Joanna admitted: 'If you'd told me 40 years ago that I'd have this following, it would have seemed ludicrous.'
Amandaland season two is set to premiere at 9pm on BBC on May 8 and will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
