A whimsical sitcom about a female vicar in a quiet English village. Written by Richard Curtis (Blackadder, Notting Hill etc.), Paul Mayhew-Archer and Kit Hesketh-Harvey.
Gerladine Granger (played by the ebullient
Dawn French) is the hard working, amiable but much put upon
vicar of the village of Dibley. Her loves are
Jesus,
sex and
chocolate (“It’s not Terry’s, it’s mine!”).
Her simple existence is coloured by the bizarre characters in the village. There’s the sweet, child like (but utterly barmy) verger, Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers), who seems to live in a parallel universe where there is a kind of simple logic but not as we know it (secretly I think it’s Teletubby land).
Then there’s Hugo Horton (James Fleet) the simple upper class son of (and constant embarrassment to) David Horton (Gary Waldhorn) the local wealthy land owner - his dissaproval of a female vicar barely hidden.
We also have Owen Newitt (played by the brilliantly deadpan Roger Lloyd Pack of Only Fools and Horses fame) with his unhealthy obsession with livestock. Or the kindly – but boring - white haired old man, Frank Pickle (John Bluthal) - who we all suspect has been hiding a dark secret for a very long time. Last but not least is the gruff stuttering Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) – “Yes yes yes yes no!”
Broadcast originally on the BBC.
Ran from 1994 – 2000 with 3 series and a handful of specials.