The Comic Strip

The Comic Strip Presents... To give it it's full and correct title began as a group of young comedy actors in a club in Soho. One double act which performed at the club was "The Menopause Sisters" two girls in their early 20s who were student drama teachers studying at the Central School Of Speech And Drama in Swiss Cottage. These two girls performed at the club occasionally and then on a more regular basis, albeit sometimes rather badly where they "sometimes outnumbered the audience". Another name the double act considered was "Kitch 'n' Tile", this double act eventually settled on a more obvious choice of name for themselves "French & Saunders".

Jennifer met Dawn on starting at the drama school (prompted by her mother) after a year of au-pairing in Italy. Dawn found her "snobby" at first but the two came to realise that they had things in common, for example both had fathers in the RAF, they moved in together, sharing a house in Acton, West London. On recalling Jennifer one morning in Acton, Dawn once said "I left the house and she was sitting there drinking a cup of coffee and looking into the fire. I came back seven hours later, seven hours, and there she was. The fire had gone out but it was the same cup of coffee. And I can remember thinking, what is going on with this woman?" - (quote: The Times Dec 11 1993)

Dawn and Jennifer actually graduated and became fully qualified teachers, Dawn took a teaching position for a short time, Jennifer was less keen. Of failing interviews for university entrance, she admits: "I would sit there apathetic and morose, not caring either way."

The Comic Strip team signed up to do a television Film in 1982 for the infant UK TV station Channel 4. The 35 minute piece entitled "Five Go Mad In Dorset" - a spoof of "The Famous Five" was screened on the opening night of Channel 4 along with, now long running quiz "Countdown" and popular soap "Brookside" The movie was, to say the least - risky and enraged Famous Five writer Enid Blighton's officials. A follow up was commissioned - with the same premise, this time it was "5 Go Mad On Mescalin" The Comic Strip Presents... series proved to be a success and developed a cult following, producing over 30 films through the eighties with an enormously diverse range of material - from film spoofs such as "The Yob" a send up of "The Fly" to action adventures and soapy slush as in "Suzie", all delivered with an unrelenting acid edge.

Sometimes Dawn and Jennifer's parts in the films were small, or none - other times they were the stars. Jennifer solo wrote "Slags" and starred in it with Dawn and shortly before being signed for their first series with the BBC in the mid 80s the pair wrote and starred in "Consuela Or the New Mrs Saunders" a send up of Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca" which undoubtedly clinched their long running place in the BBC fold. "Consuela" stands up even today as a truly genius peice of comic writing and performing and is as good as an example of the true talent that Jennifer and Dawn possess as would be found in our hooked up, logged on and fabbed out 1998.

And there's more...

on April 12 1998 a brand new Comic Strip Presents.... was shown in the UK on Channel 4. This 40 minute story entitled "Four Men In A Car" saw the original Comic Strip Team reunited. The story follows the mishaps of four salesmen (Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayal, Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson) travelling down the motorway together in one car. After much arguing, fighting, puking up and trashing the car, the four salesmen eventually abandon the car and head off in search of a mobile phone signal. Through the blizzard ravaged countryside the four stagger, until that is, they stumble upon a deserted farmhouse.

The salesmen let themselves in and take advantage of the facilities, with the exception of the phone, which is nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of generally messing up the place, the owner Helen (Jennifer Saunders) arrives. She is none too pleased and after poking a shotgun at them through the window she tells them to clean up the mess and bugger off. Helen is a diabetic alcoholic, who is a children's book writer (SPOT SAYS WOOF. WHO SAYS WOOF?). The salesmen try to steal her car, puke up on her carpet, bleed on her carpet (Not the lino) and break her last bottle of insulin. After agreeing to buy a new computer (with "Paste and Waste" facilities) and a new car, Helen passes out in true Edina style and falls down the stairs. Suddenly an angel in the form of Dawn French arrives and well and truly sorts out the messed up lives of the five sad and desperate people, including a new car for Helen with two Australian beefcakes in the back. Excellent!