The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1993 changes in the Church of England that permitted the ordination of women. Dawn French plays the lead role of vicar Geraldine Granger.
In ratings terms, it is among the most successful British programmes in the digital era, with the Christmas and New Year specials entering the UK top 10 programmes of the year. The Vicar of Dibley received multiple British Comedy Awards, two International Emmys and was a multiple British Academy Television Awards nominee. In 2004, it placed third in a BBC poll of Britain's Best Sitcoms.
Premise Background The series was created by Richard Curtis and written for actress Dawn French by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. The main character was an invention of Richard Curtis, and he and French extensively consulted Joy Carroll, one of the first female Anglican priests, and garnered many character traits and much information.
Openings and epilogues In earlier episodes, the opening credits were followed by a humorous village scene, such as a woman knitting directly from a sheep.Why you should watch The Vicar of Dibley, Radio Times, 4 December 2020
After the closing credits, Geraldine usually tells Alice a joke, which Alice either overreacts to, tries to interpret literally, or understands only after Geraldine explains it. There are a few exceptions to this in various episodes.
Cast and characters Main cast
Actor Character Episodes Dawn French Geraldine Granger 20 Gary Waldhorn Cllr David Horton 20 James Fleet Hugo Horton 20 Emma Chambers Alice Horton (née Tinker), the verger 20 Roger Lloyd-Pack Owen Newitt 20 Trevor Peacock Jim Trott 20 John Bluthal Frank Pickle 20 Liz Smith Letitia Cropley 7
Recurring cast Actor Character Episodes Richard Armitage Harry Kennedy 2 Simon McBurney Cecil, the Choirmaster 4 Clive Mantle Simon Horton 2 Peter Capaldi Tristan Campbell Patricia Kane Doris Trott 3 Keeley Hawes Rosie Kennedy 2 Edward Kelsey Mr Harris Gareth Vaughan Gonads, the tenor 5 (4 of which uncredited)
Guest appearances Hugh Bonneville, Mel Giedroyc, Richard Griffiths, Miranda Hart, Alistair McGowan, Geraldine McNulty, Philip Whitchurch, Nathalie Cox, Nicholas Le Prevost, Brian Perkins (playing Rowan Williams, the then-Archbishop of Canterbury), and Roger Sloman have all made one guest appearance each.
Pam Rhodes, Kylie Minogue, Rachel Hunter, Terry Wogan, Jeremy Paxman, Martyn Lewis, Darcey Bussell, and Sean Bean each appeared as themselves in one episode.
Sarah, Duchess of York, Richard Ayoade, Orla Brady, Fiona Bruce, Annette Crosbie, Johnny Depp, Ruth Jones, Hilary Kay, Damian Lewis, Maureen Lipman, Jennifer Saunders, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, Stephen Tompkinson, Dervla Kirwan, and Emma Watson have made guest appearances in short charity specials.
Episodes
The Vicar of Dibley has had 20 episodes as of 2007, with additional short reprises consisting of Comic Relief and the In Lockdown minis.
The first series was broadcast on BBC1 from 10 November to 15 December 1994, comprising six episodes. Following the first series, an Easter special and a Christmas special were broadcast in 1996. A four-episode second series was ordered and screened between 26 December 1997 and 22 January 1998. Subsequent episodes consisted of Christmas and New Year specials, followed by a third series of four episodes, also referred to as seasonal specials as they have the titles Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer airing from 24 December 1999 to 1 January 2000. After that came the two-episode "A Very Dibley Christmas", broadcast between 25 December 2004 and 1 January 2005, and the two-part finale, "A Wholly Holy Happy Ending", broadcast on Christmas Day 2006 and New Year's Day 2007.
The final two episodes, in which Geraldine finds love and marries, are officially the "last-ever" episodes, although there have been several reappearances of certain characters since in the form of charity specials.
Comic Relief and Lockdown specials On 15 March 2013, French reprised her role as Geraldine Granger as part of her French and Saunders marathon on BBC Radio 2. She was interviewed by Chris Evans on his Pause for Thought section. The following year, on 29 March 2014, French appeared in character as Granger on Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4.
There have been eight short charity TV specials: six for Comic Relief between 1997 and 2015 and a seventh in April 2020, in which French appeared on The Big Night In as part of a joint Comic Relief and Children in Need special to support those affected by COVID-19. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the segment was filmed at French's home. For Comic Relief 2021, Geraldine appeared in the Dibley vicarage, later lip-synching to "Juice" by Lizzo and appearing with the reverend Kate Bottley.
In December 2020, a series of short "lockdown" episodes of The Vicar of Dibley were broadcast.Comedy The Vicar of Dibley www.bbc.co.uk, accessed 14 February 2021 The series consisted of three short episodes followed by a compilation episode of the previous three episodes' material shown back-to-back, but including previously unseen material and scenes. The style was completely different to the main series, with Geraldine and Hugo breaking the fourth wall via video messaging, talking directly to the viewers as if they were the Dibley congregation. The same method was used for the 2020 and 2021 Comic Relief shorts, also made and set during the Covid pandemic.
Production Location and setting
The programme is set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley, which should not be confused with the real Dibleys estate in Blewbury, South Oxfordshire. Some villagers, including Alice, Jim, and Owen, speak with slight West Country accents, as were once common in Oxfordshire, but are now less so. The series was filmed in the Buckinghamshire village of Turville, near High Wycombe, with the village's St Mary the Virgin Church doubling as Dibley's St Barnabus.The saint's name is spelt "Barnabas", but the church is sometimes spelt "Barnabus" on the show. The exterior location for David Horton's manor is in the village of Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
The opening titles show aerial shots of the M40 motorway's Stokenchurch Gap, the Chiltern Hills of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and the village of Turville.
Theme music The theme music was a setting of Psalm 23 composed by Howard Goodall, and was performed by the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with George Humphreys singing the solo. The conductor was Stephen Darlington. Two versions are used over the opening credits: one with a full choir and one with a solo. Goodall originally wrote it as a serious piece of church choral music. It has been released as a charity single, with proceeds going to Comic Relief. It also appears on Goodall's CD Choral Works, which additionally includes his theme for Mr. Bean, another popular comedy co-created by Richard Curtis. A snippet of The Vicar of Dibley'''s theme music was used in the Mr. Bean episode "Tee Off, Mr. Bean" and the music from Mr Bean plays during Sean Bean's cameo in The Vicar of Dibley episode "Spring".
Awards and accolades
Year Award Category Nominee Result 1997 British Comedy Awards Best TV Comedy Actress Dawn French 1998 Emma Chambers BAFTA Awards Best Comedy (Programme or Series) The Vicar of Dibley Best Comedy Performance Dawn French National Television Awards Most Popular Comedy Performer Most Popular Comedy Programme The Vicar of Dibley RTS Television Award Best Situation Comedy or Comedy Drama International Emmy Popular Arts 1999 BAFTA Awards Best Comedy (Programme or Series) National Television Awards Most Popular Comedy Performer Dawn French 2000 Most Popular Comedy Programme The Vicar of Dibley BAFTA Awards Best Comedy Performance Dawn French Suitation Comedy Awards The Vicar of Dibley Lew Grade Award 2001 Best Comedy Performance Dawn French 2005 Situation Comedy Award The Vicar of Dibley TV Quick Awards Best Comedy Show 2007 BAFTA Awards Best Comedy Performer Dawn French Banff Rockie Award Best Comedy Program The Vicar of Dibley Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Golden Rose Award for Comedy 2021National Television AwardsComedyThe Vicar of Dibley (Lockdown Specials)
The series also won the TV Choice Award for Best Comedy in 2005 and again in 2021 for the Lockdown Specials.
In May 2007, Richard Curtis received a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award for his humanitarian pursuits, as well as his creative work, including The Vicar of Dibley.
Home mediaThe Vicar of Dibley was released on VHS in North America periodically in volumes (six in total) between 1998 and 2000 by BBC Video, distributed by CBS/FOX VideoThe Vicar of Dibley was released on DVD in Region 2 (UK) in 2001. In 2002, a DVD entitled The Best of The Vicar of Dibley was released featuring a 90-minute film of Dawn French talking to the producer, Jon Plowman, with clips from the series. A 2002 documentary narrated by Jo Brand, entitled The Real Vicars of Dibley, was also on the DVD. In 2005, a "complete collection" box set was released. This included all the then-aired episodes. The final two episodes and a 6-disc "ultimate" box set were released on 26 November 2007.
In Australasia (Region 4), all episodes have been released on DVD.
All episodes have been released on DVD in the United States and Canada (Region 1).
DVD TitleDiscsYearEp #DVD releaseSpecial episodesRegion 1Region 2Region 4 Complete Series 1 1 1994 6 21 October 2003 26 November 2001 1 October 2003 The 1996 Christmas special (R2) The Specials 1 1996 2 — 2001 — Complete Series 2 1 1997–1998 6 21 October 2003 2003 8 April 2004 The 1996 Easter special & Christmas special (R1 & R4) Complete Series 3 1 1999–2000 4 21 October 2003 2003 2 March 2005 The 1997 & 1999 Comic Relief shorts (R1 & R4) A Very Dibley Christmas 1 2004–2005 2 27 September 2005 14 November 2005 3 November 2005 The 1999 & 2005 Comic Relief short (All) A Holy Wholly Happy Ending 1 2006–2007 2 9 October 2007 26 November 2007 16 January 2008 The Story Of The Vicar Of Dibley (1 hour BBC documentary, 31 December 2007) Complete Series 1 & 2 2 1994–1998 10 — 7 May 2007 — The 1996 Christmas special (R2) Complete Series 1–3 3 1994–2000 16 21 October 2003 14 October 2019 — — Complete Series 1 – 2005 Sp. 4 1994–2005 18 — 14 November 2005 7 July 2005 — Complete Series 1 – 2007 Sp. 6 1994–2007 20 9 October 2007 26 November 2007 3 April 2008 The Story Of The Vicar Of Dibley as well as several shorts The Best of... 1 N/A — — 25 November 2002 — Dawn French in conversation with producer John Plowman
Legacy Adaptations On 6 February 2007, Fox announced plans to adapt The Vicar of Dibley into an American sitcom titled The Minister of Divine. The series starred Kirstie Alley as a former "wild child" who returned to her hometown as its first female minister.US version of 'Vicar of Dibley' to star Kirstie Alley, The Independent, 7 February 2007 The pilot was broadcast on Fox, but the series was not made.How not to adapt a British sitcom in America, Lea Donovan, New Statesman, 16 March 2015