A fabulous but patchy farewell

SO NOW the end really is nearing and they really are facing the final curtain. After 30 years together, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are knocking the double act on the head before it gets too undignified and are bowing out on a high with a mix of classic and new sketches.

The opening night of their West End run certainly had its absolutely fabulous moments, albeit alongside other quickly forgettable moments. Bounding on in their high Simon Cowell trousers the duo started in style. Saunders combined glacial beauty with manic slapstick while French, her hair now more orange than chocolate, played the knowing fool.

The backchat flew during their mock-status games. Saunders got an ovation for mentioning AbFab, French trumped her with Vicar Of Dibley, only for Saunders to hit a bullseye: "Sorry I'm not laughing at The Vicar Of Dibley. I never have and I'm not about to start now."

After a wonderfully cheeky audience walkabout with a micro-camera, however, the momentum drifted. This was partially down to too much pre-recorded footage. A clip of Saunders doing Madonna was hilarious, but when Saunders repeated the moves onstage it lacked the same fall-about finesse. The set-up was crying out for a cameo from their victim. Likewise a Strictly Come Dancing routine needed the real Anton Du Beke to make the spoof sing.

Yet, whatever director Hamish McColl put in their interval cuppas it helped. A revival of the original AbFab skit with French as the studious Saffy to Saunders's iconic Edina brought comedy history vividly to life. There were showstopping surprises and a swipe at Ricky Gervais, with French doing the David Brent dance, sarcastically muttering: "That is hilarious, apparently." Revenge, no doubt, for Gervais joking about French's weight.

There was depth too, as the twosome played boarding school teens, abandoned over Christmas by rich parents. French, 51, and Saunders, 50, still make marvellous adolescents. And perhaps that is the secret of their success.

They have always had a puerile streak, underlined in a cross-dressing encore as their lecherous fat old men that was as gloriously rude as anything by Little Britain.

One left noting that the duo laid the groundwork for umpteen other comedians, particularly other women.

Among the audience were Jo Brand and Catherine Tate. Without French & Saunders neither would have found it as easy to break into the mainstream.