Absolutely Fabulous (TV Series) Book Clubbin' (2003) User Reviews

Meeting the father of the baby amid the antics of Edina's book club

[onnanob2 · 8/10 · 12 April 2007]

"Book Clubbin'" begins with Edina having a nightmare about a knife-wielding "baby," and Saffy receiving a surrealistic visit from her gran. A midwife (Janette Krankie) later comes to the house to give a gruelling and unpleasant account on how to have a baby. Edina is rather upset and infuriated over Saffy's pregnancy, but she pushes on with questioning Saffy for details. She learns her daughter was in Africa, and is seeing a man named John. She also learns John, the father of the baby, is a student now living in London. Edina finds out John hasn't been told that Saffy is pregnant, and she taunts her daughter by saying he won't want anything to do with Saffy once he hears the news. Patsy arrives, demands her favorite seat on the sofa, throws an abortion pamphlet to Saffy, and blows cigarette smoke in Saffy's direction! Edina and Patsy then argue and trade insults with Saffy. The ladies then join Bubble upstairs for the preparation of their book club. Mariella Frostrup arrives to lead the book club, but her "promised" celebrity guests are not with her. They find out book club member Plum (Kristin Scott Thomas) is already there, but in the state of "corpse." Plum is queen of the spas and travel. She's also a flaky woman who was recently the victim of a spa nightmare in Chad, where she was left bound and gagged by an enema tube during a small rebellion. John (Felix Dexter) arrives with flowers for Saffy. They're happy to see each other, but John easily gets distracted and wonders about the house's heating unit, the type of paper Saffy writes letters on, and how the ceiling is held up. The book club starts off with a celebrity magazine, and then moves on to the pocket-sized, abridged version of "The Picture Of Dorian Gray." Plum throws some nibbles into her handbag, and walks out of the room. Patsy runs off to join her, and Bubble trails closely behind as if it's her cue to leave. Saffy attempts to tell John she's pregnant, but they're interrupted when Plum enters the kitchen. Then Patsy sees John and makes a sexual pass at him. Saffy hinders Patsy from getting her clutches on John, so Patsy then escorts Plum back upstairs. Plum asks Edina if Saffy is pregnant to "that big black guy," and Edina becomes quite excited when she realizes she's going to be the grandmother of a mixed-race baby! Edina exclaims a mixed-race baby is the best accessory a woman in her position could have. Saffron finally manages to tell John she's pregnant; amid Edina's uproar of joy.