UK Comedy Legends Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders Close Their Production Company After 28 Years

Jake Kanter
Fri., November 6, 2020


EXCLUSIVE: Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are shuttering their production company, Saunders & French Productions, after it has been operating for more than 28 years.

The UK comedy heroes first set up their TV company in 1992 and it co-produced the iconic BBC series Absolutely Fabulous, which was adapted into a movie by BBC Films four years ago.

French and Saunders have filed for voluntary liquidation, and Mustafa Abdulali and Neil Dingley of insolvency company Moore, have been appointed to wind down the production outfit’s affairs.

According to a notice to creditors, the process is a solvent liquidation, meaning that people or businesses owed money by Saunders & French Productions are expected to be paid in full.

Saunders & French Productions’ latest earnings for the year ended July 2019 showed that it had £281,622 ($369,852) of cash at the bank and in hand. It owed creditors £2,461, according to the Companies House document.

French and Saunders’ agent Maureen Vincent, who also serves as a director at the production company, did not respond to Deadline’s repeated requests for comment at the time of publication.

There were signs of change at Saunders & French Productions when Jon Plowman, the prominent UK comedy producer who launched Absolutely Fabulous, stepped down as a non-executive director in August.

French and Saunders continue to collaborate and in 2017 made a special episode of their sketch show, 300 Years Of French And Saunders, for the BBC through BBC Studios. They both star in Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming Agatha Christie adaptation Death On The Nile.