The under-rated first series (which was linked by the duo bickering backstage at a tacky variety show) has never been repeated since its original transmission in 1987. One hopes that - since the BBC often use French & Saunders repeats as schedule-fillers - it may emerge again... but programme planners seem foolishly to gauge the suitability of episodes on the original viewing figures alone, meaning that the rather dull fourth series (1993) tends to gets priority. There is a logical flaw in this process which we don't need to point out. The second series (1988) was pretty good, although less experimental and more pleb-friendly than the first. The third series (1990) was the most consistent, the budget allowing for strong film pastiches (including a ten-minute sketch about Andy Warhol, which went right over the housewives' heads) that weren't betrayed, as in the fourth series, by a weak script. The fifth and final series (1996) was criticised for its self indulgence and for the length of its sketches...both of which are strengths as far as we're concerned. French and Saunders' future is now in one-off specials, rather than full series, apparently. And still the viewers gush on.
1.
The opening episode of Series 3 (24/1/90) began with a Sound Of Music parody, in which Saunders sang a brief snatch from 'Climb Every Mountain' and Dawn French, in Julie Andrews-mode, sauntered through London gleefully singing 'I Have Confidence'. The episode ended with a parody of 'I Am Sixteen Going On Seventeen' (sung as 'I am French and you are Saunders...').
All three songs posed huge PRS problems when the series was released on video in 1993, especially since the BBC planned to use the phrase 'complete and unedited' on the sleeve. It was also the first item in the show, and acted as the opening titles, so couldn't simply be snipped out. In the end, the duo recorded some new voice-overs at the start of the tape, welcoming viewers to the video. This led to a spoof argument between the pair concerning whether the viewers wanted to hear Ms French sing. Saunders, who had seized control of the editing suite, decided that they didn't, and fast-forwarded through the offending sequence. We didn't hear from the duo again until the close of the show, where Saunders once again voiced her disapproval and spoke over the uncopyrighted song. With all the PRS worries taken care of, French and Saunders pissed off and contributed no further annotations to the video.
As if by way of compensation, however, Show 7 was a 41'24 edit of the original broadcast (26/4/90), including a sketch about two women going to a Gilbert O'Sullivan concert and a running joke about Raw Sex setting up a courier service. The note on the sleeve read 'Complete and unedited-ish'.
