One might feel inclined to roll their eyes at the thought of an Ab Fab adaptation for the big screen. I can understand that. Remember Da Kath and Kim Code? The small-to-silver screen move rarely ever results in anything even edging towards ‘good’. The bar is low. But I tire of that kind of pessimism pretty quickly. The success of the Inbetweeners films has proved that British telly adapted for the big screen can bring in big bucks, and studios want in on that racket. And if we’re honest with ourselves, don’t we all want in on it too?

Nevertheless, my plus one and I went into Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie with fairly low expectations. And these low expectations were met, via a series of seriously off-colour jokes about gender. Far from the tongue-in-cheek gags about Patsy’s (Joanna Lumley) previous life as a man, the Ab Fab movie doggedly and unnecessarily pursues jokes at the expense of trans people that are unfunny at best, and offensive at worst. Jennifer Saunders is clearly a second wave femmo with a chip on her shoulder, and the result is pretty grim.

It’s a shame too, because for the most part, the Ab Fab film gives good adaptation. The plot is strong (Patsy and Eddy are on the run after being accused of killing Kate Moss), the list of cameos by old favourites is comprehensive (namely the gaggle of early noughties models that Eddie’s fantasies centre on), and most importantly, attempts to bring the Ab Fab universe into 2016 totally come off. No cringing while Bridget Jones attempts to tweet here; I nearly fell off my chair when Edina tries to shove another pod into her overstuffed nespresso machine.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is flawed – we know, we get it. TV-turned-film is rough. But if you don’t laugh at this, you might be taking it too seriously. Before you go in, pause, take a deep breath, and whisper to yourself, ‘it’s just a TV show that got movie money.’ Then enjoy.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Nuffnang