'Absolutely Fabulous' to be remade in US

Some may regard it as quintessentially English but Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC comedy about the charmed lives of two perennially immature, champagne-quaffing women starring, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, is to be remade for America.

Plans for the remake by Fox Network come amid a spate of British comedies being resurrected for American audiences including Ricky Gervais's The Office and, most recently, Peep Show.

The show will be based in Los Angeles, according to Variety.com.

This is the second attempt to remodel the BBC comedy for the American market. The comedian Roseanne Barr tried more than 10 years ago but it never made it past the pilot stage.

Although casting for the two lead characters – Edina, an irresponsible PR guru played by Saunders in the original, and Lumley's dissolute, nymphomaniacal Patsy – is yet to be announced, Fox appears to have enlisted an experienced team of writers and executive producers, including Saunders, who created the show in the 1990s, as an executive producer.

Despite the talent already involved, some believe the comedy will be lost in translation for US audiences.