Dawn French has revealed she has plans for a new Anti-Woke sitcom.
The 66-year-old actress is best known for her starring roles in the popular series French And Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley and is now planning a return to the small screen.
Speaking on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, Dawn said she hopes the show will air in either late 2024 or early 2025 and vowed she will “fight for people to be as offensive as they want.” “.
She said: “There are plans afoot.” I can't tell you much about that at the moment. But there's going to be a sitcom late next year or early next year and I'm going to be in it.'
Dawn spoke today about the state of comedy and recalled how her close friend Jennifer Saunders struggled to bring Absolutely Fabulous to the screen.
Dawn French has revealed she has plans for a brand new sitcom
The actress is known for her role as Geraldine Grainger in the popular sitcom The Vicar of Dibley
She said, “I remember Jennifer.” [Saunders] She told me how difficult it was to put “Absolutely Fabulous” together because her characters smoked, drank, fell over and were completely unhinged.
“But you know, it all seems so mild now… Let's be inappropriate, let's wear purple, let's just push the boundaries a little and laugh at ourselves when we get it wrong.”
When asked if comedy has become a bit boring these days, Dawn replied: “No, because there's everything.” There's everything for everyone. I would fight tooth and nail to make people as obnoxious as they want.
'Hate? No. I think we know when something turns into a completely unacceptable incitement to hatred. I think we all know when that is the case.
“And of course it’s just not funny.” Those are the facts. It's just not funny to anyone except the one person who thinks it, who is usually out of their mind.'
Dawn would be far from the first comedy star to push boundaries with his content, as Ricky Gervais recently came under fire for “ableist slurs” scenes in his new stand-up show Armageddon.
In his new Netflix show, due out on Christmas Day, Gervais said he made videos for terminally ill children in hospitals with the charity Make-A-Wish.
In a snippet posted on Twitter, Ricky joked that the children were “damned” because they “had no desire to get well.”
She gained great fame in the sketch show “French And Saunders” with her close friend Jennifer Saunders
She said: “There are plans afoot.” I can't tell you much about that at the moment. But at the end of next year or the beginning of the year after that, there will be a sitcom and I'll be in it.
Dawn would be far from the first comedy star to push boundaries, as Ricky Gervais recently came under fire for “ableist slurs” scenes in his new stand-up show
The comedian has since faced intense backlash when the mother of a terminally ill child launched a petition to have the skit removed by Netflix. And a British disability charity criticized the sketch for containing “ableist insults.”
Last year, Jimmy Carr also faced backlash for making a joke about the Holocaust in his stand-up show.
In a widely shared clip from his Netflix show His Dark Material, Mr Carr joked about the horror of the Holocaust and “six million Jewish lives lost”.
As a punchline, the 49-year-old then made a derogatory remark about the deaths of thousands of gypsies at the hands of the Nazis.
“But they never mention the thousands of gypsies who were killed by the Nazis.” “Nobody ever wants to talk about it because nobody ever wants to talk about the positives,” Carr quipped to a laughing audience.
The audience had reacted with loud laughter to the clip of Mr. Carr from “His Dark Material,” which was shared widely online.
Jimmy then explained why he thought it was a “good joke” by saying that it was “damn funny” and “edgy as hell” and that it had an “educational nature”.
But the joke sparked major backlash elsewhere and sparked a debate about racism and free speech, with Carr later omitting the joke at a stand-up gig in Cambridge.
Rosie Jones also faced backlash for using an “ableist” slur in the title of her documentary “Am IAR****d?”
At the start of the documentary, Rosie addressed the controversy surrounding the title and why she wanted to keep it.
The comedian said: “This show contains a very shocking word.” The “R” word.
“I understand it will be upsetting to many, but I believe we need to confront this word and other disability-related terms head-on so that people realize how harmful it is.”
“So I said to Channel 4, 'Let's use that word in the title and then hopefully by the end of this film people will think twice before they ever use that word again.'
In 2020, Monty Python star John Cleese sparked backlash for defending JK Rowling when a Twitter user asked him to give his honest opinion about the Harry Potter author.
“I'm afraid I'm not that interested in transsexuals. I just hope they are happy and that people treat them kindly,” he tweeted.
Then he tweeted scathingly: “Deep down I want to be a Cambodian policewoman.” Is that allowed or am I being unrealistic?
He was harshly criticized for his comments by a number of progressive figures, including “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness, who accused the comedian of “transphobia.”
Dawn is currently recovering from a partial knee replacement after she was injured while recreating a Vicar Of Dibley stunt on the Paul O'Grady show in 2009.
Previously, the star had been using steroids to deal with the pain.
She said: “It was a leisure activity.” [of the Vicar of Dibley] So many, many years later I was on The Paul O'Grady Show and I agreed to this idiocy because I was British and not a girl, as my brother used to call me when I refused a challenge.
“So I agreed to that jump and my left leg buckled underneath me, which has been giving me problems ever since.” And I have very severe arthritis in that leg.
“And recently, ten concerts before the end of my tour, unfortunately my leg just gave out and I couldn’t walk anymore. And even though I could have done the show sitting down, I felt like I was cheating the audience.
“So we postponed those 10 shows until next year and I rushed out and had the surgery that I had always wanted and had been putting off for a little bit out of fear.”
Dawn is currently recovering from a partial knee replacement after she was injured while recreating a Vicar Of Dibley stunt on the Paul O'Grady show in 2009
“Three weeks ago I got a new knee, I'm hobbling around with my crutches and trying to do physical therapy… and I have to believe it's going to get better.” And it's a partial knee replacement.
“I was slightly offended when I was told that I also had a fracture in the back of my knee, called an insufficiency fracture. So my knees aren't enough.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Dawn explained her low-key Christmas plans.
The actress is married to Mark Bignell while she shares daughter Billie, 32, with her ex-husband Lenny Henry.
She said: “The Muppet Christmas movie, I love it, and I love the old-fashioned It's A Wonderful Life movies, but you have to find the time when you're alone with the fire and you don't have other people to do.” The. And Christmas in our house is full of people.
“I'm going to be hobbling around this year so we're going to a pub for lunch instead of cooking at our house.” This is the first time we've done this and I'm really excited about it.
“But there will be a lot of people there, so it's hard to find that moment, isn't it? Then you're alone, have your Baileys and enjoy an old-fashioned black and white film.'