50-477: 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
100-549: 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". The series also won
150-551: 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
200-438: A BBC poll of Britain's Best Sitcoms . 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, but he and French extensively consulted Joy Carroll , one of the first female Anglican priests, and garnered many character traits and much information. In earlier episodes,
250-680: A duo, the Still Alive tour, ran initially until late 2008, then resumed in Australia in summer 2009. In 2009, the duo were jointly awarded the BAFTA Fellowship . Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders met in 1978 while they were studying drama at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and began their career by collaborating on several comedy projects. They came to prominence in the early 1980s for performing at
300-460: A final Christmas special in 2005. A compilation series, A Bucket o' French and Saunders , aired in 2007. In 2008, the pair retired the show after performing a sketch with the singer Anastacia , in which French dressed in a similar outfit to the US star. French said she was left feeling "humiliated". In Christmas 2010, French and Saunders were featured in three two-hour radio shows on BBC Radio 2. This
350-495: A heavily fictionalised version of herself, forced to be the fictional show's producer despite her actual career goal of creating and producing game shows, and Lorna Brown as the production assistant , Abba. Maggie Steed appeared in two episodes as the duo's agent, Mo, based on their real agent, Maureen Vincent, while Eileen Essell and Brenda Cowling appeared briefly in several episodes as Abba's imagination of French and Saunders, respectively, as old women. The show ended with
400-582: A long-term contract with the BBC . In 1987, French and Saunders created their eponymous sketch show, which lasted six series and nine specials until 2005. Compilations of previous material appeared until 2017. The show began humbly but established its own niche. The first series was intentionally set up to look like a low-budget variety show in which the duo constantly attempted grandiose stunts and often failed miserably. A "famous" guest star would often be brought on but mistreated. Also featured during this series were
450-480: A new one-off special titled French and Saunders: Funny Women . The special, filmed on the set of their original sketch series, features a discussion by French and Saunders and focuses on the history of women who have contributed to comedy. It was broadcast on Gold on 17 July that year. In addition to French and Saunders themselves, the sketch series featured several regular and recurring cast members, who were chosen for their "funny bones" and willingness to "be part of
500-707: A new series in 2021. In December 2022, Channel 5 aired a 67-minute special retrospective for their "Comedy Classics" series. Actors and celebrities, including co-writer Paul Mayhew-Archer , take a look back, discuss and pay tribute to the show. Television sitcom Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 571908462 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:49:40 GMT French and Saunders French and Saunders
550-423: A spoof on the behind-the-scenes and making of James Cameron 's 1997 film Titanic , with Dawn French as Jack and Jennifer Saunders as Rose. Five further specials, including spoofs on the films Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Love Actually , were broadcast from 1999 to 2003, before the sixth and final series in 2004, and an additional Christmas special in 2005. Forty-eight episodes (not including
SECTION 10
#1732780180321600-401: A strong Northern Irish accent. Since then, the duo often break character in the middle of elaborate sketches to do an "accent check" and repeat these lines. The show also contained numerous meta references : an awareness that the viewer was watching a parody. Unlike many parodies done straightforwardly for effect, French and Saunders use the viewer's awareness of what is going on to stretch out
650-494: 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
700-483: A troupe of geriatric dancers called The Hot Hoofers and a bongos /keyboard music duo called Raw Sex, actually Comic Strip collaborators Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron in character as stepfather and stepson Ken and Duane Bishop respectively. Alison Moyet and Joan Armatrading each appeared in one episode. The dancing and music were included to fulfil the series' mandate as a light entertainment series to include "a certain amount of variety" rather than pure comedy (as
750-536: Is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is also the name by which the performers are known when they appear elsewhere as a double act . The show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, movies, celebrities , and art. French and Saunders continued to film holiday specials for
800-472: Is a running gag suggesting French and Saunders are unable to affect accents accurately: this first appeared in their spoof of Gone with the Wind when they break their character in the middle of an elaborate and expensive parody to argue about the authenticity of their Southern accent. Saunders goads French to try the accent by saying: "How are you?", and French responds with an interpretation sounding more like
850-459: 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
900-722: The London alternative comedy club The Comedy Store , which also gave its name to its television series The Comic Strip Presents... and the informal grouping of so-called "alternative comedians". French and Saunders were featured on the live comedy album of The Comic Strip recorded by comedy entrepreneur Martin Lewis for his Springtime! label and released in 1981. The duo made their first mainstream television appearance in The Comic Strip Presents... , appearing in approximately 30 episodes each and writing material for
950-433: The "last-ever" episodes, although there have been several reappearances of certain characters since in the form of charity 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
1000-857: The BBC's budget for Light Entertainment was considerably higher than that of their Comedy department). The show-within-a-show premise was dropped with the second series in 1988. As the show progressed, ratings skyrocketed, eventually prompting the BBC to move it from BBC2 to BBC1 in 1994. French and Saunders received higher and higher budgets to create elaborate parodies of mainstream culture. These ranged anywhere from re-creations of films (e.g., Thelma & Louise , Misery , Titanic , and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? ) to spoofs of popular music artists including Madonna , Bananarama , ABBA and The Corrs . Certain spoken phrases and sight gags referencing previously performed sketches (often from years before) were incorporated for loyal fans. In particular, there
1050-495: The BBC, and both have been individually successful starring in other shows. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian , the duo were voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Their last special, French and Saunders Christmas Celebrity Special , aired on 27 December 2005 on BBC One . In 2006, both French and Saunders announced their sketch show was dead and that they had moved on to more age-appropriate material. Their last time performing as
SECTION 20
#17327801803211100-631: 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
1150-464: 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. 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
1200-621: The Kardashians . French and Saunders toured rarely, with UK tours in 1990 and 2000. They began what was announced as their final tour at Blackpool Opera House on 29 February 2008 in the UK. The first leg of the show concluded in May 2008 before moving to Australia. The tour ended on 9 November in London. The tour included a selection of their favourite sketches and new material written specifically for
1250-481: The Save Our Dibley campaign as a new reservoir threatens the village. Performance rights for all three are available through United Agents. In February 2016, it was reported that Dawn French was interested in returning to the role in a new series, The Bishop of Dibley , to follow on from the 2015 Red Nose Day Special. In December 2020, French opened up about the prospect of The Vicar of Dibley returning for
1300-661: The Sugar Lumps , along with Llewella Gideon and Lulu , to parody the Spice Girls , with whom they performed a version of Who Do You Think You Are . Saunders won international acclaim for writing and playing Edina Monsoon in her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous , based on the French and Saunders sketch " Modern Mother and Daughter ". She also guest starred in the American sitcoms Roseanne and Friends , and voiced
1350-595: 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 . The 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
1400-567: The TV episodes. The first is titled The Vicar of Dibley , and is concerned mainly with Alice and Hugo's engagement and wedding. The second, A Vicar of Dibley Christmas – The Second Coming , is based on the episodes "Dibley Live" and "Winter", in which the villagers set up a radio station and put on a nativity play at Owen's farm. A third adaptation by Steve Clark and David Lovesy, titled The Vicar of Dibley - The Holy Trinity , covers Baby Geraldine’s Christening, David Horton's brief wooing of Geraldine, and
1450-534: The United States and Canada (Region 1). 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. The pilot was broadcast on Fox, but the series was not made. The series has also been adapted into two stage plays by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter, both incorporating plots from
1500-669: The book!" Other characters that make a recurring appearance are the bald, fat, perverted old men ("Begging for it, she is!"); two perpetually overacting extras ; and Star Pets ("What a lovely dog, Lady Fortescue: I bet he do's tricks"). The sixth and final series aired in 2004, returning to the first series' metafictional premise. In this series, the two lampooned themselves as incapable of getting any work done: Saunders later characterised it as "a fairly accurate rendition of our writing process" but asserted that, while they appeared to others to be procrastinating, they were actually generating writing ideas. The series also starred Liza Tarbuck as
1550-614: The comedy/crime show Murder Most Horrid , and voiced Mrs. Beaver in the film adaptation of C. S. Lewis ' fantasy novel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . French starred in another BBC shows Jam and Jerusalem and Lark Rise to Candleford . For many years, French has become popular for her appearances in the Terry's Chocolate Orange adverts by saying her famous line: "It's not Terry's, it's mine!" and voiced
The Vicar of Dibley - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-561: The compilation episodes) were broadcast between 1987 and 2005. The series additionally included compilation specials, starting in 1995 with the two-part "French and Saunders Go To the Movies", which highlighted their movie parodies from the series. A second two-part compilation special, "I Can't Believe it's Music" and "I Can't Believe it's Not Music" from 2005, showcased their classic music parodies from singers such as Alanis Morissette , ABBA , The Corrs , Guns N' Roses , and Björk . In 2007,
1650-525: The compilation series "A Bucket o' French and Saunders", which featured a mixture of new material and old clips, was broadcast to highlight the 20th anniversary of the series. However, this proved unpopular with viewers, and the initial seven-part series was edited to six episodes. On 25 December 2017, a new compilation special, "300 Years of French and Saunders", marked the 30th anniversary of the series, and again consisted mainly of old clips, while new material featured spoofs of Gogglebox and Keeping Up with
1700-512: The first series comprising six episodes. With its popularity and high ratings, a second series commenced on 4 March 1988, followed by a Christmas special in late 1988. The third, fourth and fifth series, which broadcast from 1990 to 1996, consisting each of seven episodes, relied heavily on movie parodies, and some music parodies, alongside their own material, such as the sketch " Modern Mother and Daughter ", which spawned Saunders' popular sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in 1992. Notable films parodied on
1750-431: The gang". Although the amount of music in the show decreased over time, Raw Sex remained regular cast members through series 4. Betty Marsden also appeared in series one as Madame, the show's choreographer. Singer Kirsty MacColl appeared in one episode of series two and five episodes of series 3, sometimes performing jointly with Raw Sex. For series 5, Mel and Sue served as assistant writers and appeared in four of
1800-574: The joke further. For example, in their parody of Peter Jackson 's fantasy film epic The Lord of the Rings , an encounter between Frodo and Galadriel is thrown off after Saunders delivers her line: "I have passed the test, and now I will diminish, and go to the West and remain Galadriel". French responds, "You will what, sorry?", to which Saunders replies: "I will diminish... I don't understand, it's in
1850-460: 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
1900-1233: The opening credits were followed by a humorous village scene, such as a woman knitting directly from a sheep. 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. Hugh Bonneville , Mel Giedroyc , Richard Griffiths , Miranda Hart , Alistair McGowan , Geraldine McNulty , Philip Whitchurch , Nathalie Cox , Nicholas Le Prevost , Brian Perkins , 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. The Vicar of Dibley has had 20 episodes as of 2007, with additional short reprises consisting of Comic Relief and
1950-489: The same channel, for which French received her honour of being the first person to use the word " blowjob " on British television. In 1985, French and Saunders collaborated on the programme Girls on Top , which they once again (with Ruby Wax) wrote and starred in. Co-stars Tracey Ullman and Ruby Wax rounded out a set of four oddball roommates, and the show ran for two series. In 1986, French and Saunders made their first of many appearances on Comic Relief , and they signed
2000-469: The seven episodes. In series 6, the show returned to the show-within-a-show format of series 1, with Liza Tarbuck appearing in each episode as the fictional show's producer and Lorna Brown as the PA . The show also featured dozens of guest stars. Notably, Saunders' Absolutely Fabulous co-stars Joanna Lumley , Julia Sawalha , and June Whitfield all guest-starred as themselves, with Whitfield appearing on
2050-489: The show included What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , The Exorcist , Misery , The Silence of the Lambs , Thelma & Louise , Pulp Fiction , and Braveheart . A second Christmas special was screened in 1994, between the fourth and fifth series. For the next several years, the series included only Christmas and Easter specials; in 1998, a new special, "The Making of Titanic", was broadcast at Christmas and featured
The Vicar of Dibley - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-569: The show three years before the beginning of Ab Fab . The spouses of the duo, Lenny Henry and Adrian Edmondson , both appeared on the show respectively, while the producer, Jon Plowman , made occasional uncredited cameos. Recurring Ab Fab actors Patrick Barlow , Harriet Thorpe , Helen Lederer , and Kathy Burke also appeared, as did French's The Vicar of Dibley co-star Gary Waldhorn , and Jam & Jerusalem regulars Maggie Steed , Rosie Cavaliero , and Pauline McLynn . French and Saunders first broadcast on 9 March 1987 on BBC2 , with
2150-400: The show. French and Saunders began to establish themselves in what was referred to as the "underground comedy" scene, along with many other prolific actors and comedians they would work with during the next twenty-plus years. In 1983, they starred in an edition of Channel 4 's series The Entertainers , and later went on to appear as comedy relief on the weekly music programme The Tube on
2200-445: The show. The tour was directed by Hamish McColl , set design by Lez Brotherstone, and lighting, video and visual effects by Willie Williams . Lananeeneenoonoo was a British spoof all-girl group consisting of comedians Dawn French , Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke . The group, and its name, was a spoof on the popular group Bananarama and was introduced during the 1988 Christmas special of French & Saunders , in which Burke
2250-435: The village of Turville. 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
2300-501: The wicked Fairy Godmother in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2 . Saunders wrote and starred in another two BBC sitcoms Jam and Jerusalem and The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle . Her other work includes being the face of Barclays Bank and BBC America . French starred as Geraldine Granger in the highly successful sitcom The Vicar of Dibley , which received great critical acclaim. She also starred in four series of
2350-602: Was a guest. In 1989, along with Bananarama, they created a charity single called " Help! ", to raise money for Comic Relief . It was a cover version of the Beatles ' song and was released on the London Records label , entering the UK Singles Chart on 25 February 1989 and reaching a high of No. 3. It remained in the chart for nine weeks. French, Saunders and Burke returned for Comic Relief in 1997 as
2400-648: 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. The programme is set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley. Some villagers, including Alice, Jim, and Owen, speak with slight West Country accents , as were once common in Oxfordshire but are now less common. The series
2450-647: 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 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
2500-484: Was followed by further specials in 2011 for Easter and the Bank Holidays. In 2020, the duo debuted a podcast titled French & Saunders: Titting About on Audible . The podcast features the pair in relaxed, often nostalgic conversations about a new topic in each episode. Series 2 was released in 2021, and Series 3 in 2022. Series 4 was released in 2023. In 2021, it was announced that Gold had commissioned
#320679