Julia Sawalha will return as the long suffering Saffie

She added: "But when I sat down to write the new characters I felt Edina and Patsy and all the other Ab Fab characters vying for my attention. So, in the end I gave in."

The original series focussed on the homelife of eccentric PR guru Edina, played by Saunders, and her stern daughter Saffy, played by Julia Sawalha, who did most of the mothering in the home.

Jane Horrocks is set to return in the sitcom as a new character

Into that relationship was added Patsy, the chain-smoking alcoholic played by Joanna Lumley, and Edina's mother, played by June Whitfield.

In the new series Edina is promoting herself as a media celebrity, while her daughter has become a serious actress.

Patsy is working at the seamier end of public relations, which can mean sifting through bins, while Edina's mother has a new job and a new man in her life.

Jane Horrocks will leave her Bubbles character behind from the original series and will instead recreate her Mirrorball character Yitta Hilberstam, an Icelandic waitress with an eccentric command of the English language.

"I'm looking forward to moving on the characters into the millennium, and adding a few new ones, " said Saunders.

She added: "Saunders said today: "We had such a great time making Mirrorball that we all wanted to work together again.

"But when I sat down to write the new characters I felt Edina and Patsy and all the other Ab Fab characters vying for my attention. So in the end I gave in."