French and Saunders head back to town

Infamous duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are set to make an eagerly-anticipated return to the stage for their third live national tour.

Bringing together old and new material from some of the duo's favourite characters, the unmissable French & Saunders Live 2008 tour will stop off at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 21st to Saturday 26th April.nextpage

Jennifer Saunders (pictured here in the early 80s with fellow funnies Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Freud and Tony Slattery), met Dawn French in 1980.

After spotting an advert for comediennes at The Comic Strip, Jennifer and Dawn applied as a duo and were an instant hit, pioneering their own brand of alternative comedy alongside fellow Comic Strip veterans Rik Mayall, Alexi Sayle and Adrian Edmonson. nextpage

Dawn also met Black Country comedian Lenny Henry when he teamed up with The Comic Strip, and the couple later married.nextpage

After several successful years performing on stage together, the pair got their own TV sketch show, French and Saunders, and quickly became Britain's favourite female duo.nextpage

In the early 90s, the pair embarked on solo projects. Jennifer launched the hit television series Absolutely Fabulous, playing fashion victim Edina alongside Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha. The show gained an impressive following, both in the UK and America.nextpage

After embarking on her own solo project, Murder Most Horrid, Dawn French moved on to star in the hugely successful television show The Vicar of Dibley, playing unconventional female vicar Geraldine Granger (pictured here with co-star James Fleet, who plays the nice-but-dim Hugo).nextpage

Jennifer Saunders, pictured in May 2007 with Location Location Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp in Hyde Park, ahead of their marathon for the 10th anniversary of the Playtex Moonwalk which raises money for breast cancer research.

Dawn French painting chocolate onto the face of chef Gordon Ramsey in a scene from Ramsey's show The F Word, shown on Channel 4 last May.nextpage

Bottom actor Adrian Edmondson met Jennifer during their Comic Strip days and the pair later married. They're pictured here receiving an honorary Doctorate of Literatures at Exeter University in Devon in July 2007.nextpage

French and Saunders at the 2004 London Fashion Week at the Duke of York's Headquarter's in Central London.nextpage

The pair are reuniting for their third live UK tour, which comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from 21st to 26th April.

By Lara Page