The Vicar of Dibley Inside Out (2021) Full Movie HD

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The Vicar of Dibley: Inside Out (2021) is a special documentary that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the beloved British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. Featuring interviews with Dawn French and other cast members, this program explores the show’s legacy, its funniest moments, and the impact it has had on audiences for decades. A must-watch for fans of British comedy and one of television’s most iconic characters.  The Vicar of Dibley Inside Out 2021, The Vicar of Dibley documentary, Dawn French interview, British sitcom documentary, behind the scenes Vicar of Dibley, Vicar of Dibley special program, comedy legacy documentary, UK comedy classic, Vicar of Dibley cast interviews, British comedy history, Dawn French Vicar of Dibley, TV comedy documentary, BBC comedy shows, inside look Vicar of Dibley, classic sitcom celebration, British television classics, The Vicar of Dibley full documentary, iconic UK comedy series, best British sitcoms, Vicar of Dibley fans special

Transcript

00:00:00from the moment it arrived on our screens the Vicar of Dibley became an instant national

00:00:13treasure and one of the best-loved sitcoms on British television this was a show about

00:00:20goodness and people looking after each other this is about a family through 20 episodes

00:00:26and a collection plate full of specials we've watched the Reverend Geraldine Granger deal

00:00:30with her Virgil Alice who is a few disciples short of a Last Supper and you know I can't believe it's

00:00:35not I can't believe it's not I fell in love like that a parish council who could try the patience

00:00:44of a saint never mind a vicar the ins and outs or distinct lack of them of Geraldine's love life

00:00:55where does Saddam Hussein keep his CDs in Iraq I'm gonna say it was the most popular comedy on the BBC

00:01:03and we bathe in the glow of some of the brightest guest stars who shone on Dibley Dawn was everything

00:01:11that you hope she's gonna be she was warm she was caring no matter what you do on earth sex drugs

00:01:17ritual Satanism I can guarantee you the best seat in heaven and relive all of our favorite Dibley moments

00:01:25with my body I thee worship

00:01:33if I fell in the region's canal I'll go in home about half the things that would flash through in my mind

00:01:39would be about my time on this show if one thinks that Paddington is a national treasure then Geraldine

00:01:45comes a close second oh for heaven's sakes just kiss you moron Dawn French and writer Richard Curtis will

00:01:52look back into the Dibley archive and watch some of the show's most memorable scenes one more time one

00:01:58of the greatest English actresses of our generation in this scene and you were great too we'll reveal

00:02:07never-before-before broadcast footage from behind the scenes and see how the Dibley team brought the

00:02:14show to our screens and created some of the most loved comedy moments of the last 30 years I know

00:02:24I'm not much of a catch but then you're not getting any younger yourself it was a sex romp in rural

00:02:31England we should all be in prison

00:02:35the Lord is my shepherd I shall not taunt he maketh me to lie down green pastures

00:02:47he leadeth me beside the still waters

00:03:01through divine intervention or divine writing and performances the Vicar of Dibley has been a

00:03:16God-fearing fixture of the nation's TV screens for over 25 years a staple of the BBC schedule since the

00:03:22day it began in 1994 with episodes drawing congregations of up to 14 million viewers the

00:03:28immaculate conception of a show about a female vicar came one Thursday morning to its creator

00:03:33Richard Curtis one of the first inspirations for the show was that I went to a civic wedding of two

00:03:41friends of mine Pierce and Paula and a woman was invigilating as it were and I thought this is so right my mum

00:03:50would be so much better at doing a wedding than my dad she's much more interested in love children

00:03:55girlfriends at that moment I became a hundred percent convinced of the cause of female Vickers a long

00:04:04time ago Richard started to mention it to me I don't really know but I think he had me in mind for

00:04:14it and so he was kind of laying the ground in the way that Richard does where the sort of crumbs are

00:04:19laid in you you're busy sort of gobbling them up you don't even know that you've followed the crumbs

00:04:24and then suddenly you're there Vicar came into my life via a script called the new Vicar which was

00:04:33what it was originally called when the synod looked as if they were going to go the right way as it were

00:04:43and they were going to allow women into the church Richard let it be known he was going to write

00:04:50about women Vickers the reason he did it was as it were to warn everybody else off

00:04:56hello I'm Geraldine believe you're expecting me no I'm expecting our new Vicar unless of course you

00:05:05are the new Vicar and they've landed us with a woman some sort of insane joke oh dear oh my god

00:05:13you were expecting a bloke beard Bible bad breath yes that sort of thing yeah and instead you've got a

00:05:21babe with a bobcat and a magnificent bosom when Dibley began James Fleet had just played the

00:05:29charming if rather dim Tom in four weddings and a funeral but even though James had just been part

00:05:34of a big Richard Curtis hit that didn't mean he was a shoe-in for a role in Dibley Richard had this

00:05:40idea about a lady Vicar he said we might he might be in it so yeah it was that it was that yes it was

00:05:47a sort of teasing thing because it wasn't his decision hello I'm Geraldine call me Jerry delighted

00:05:53to meet you I'm Hugo call me Hugo ladies and gentlemen you're new Vicar hello Geraldine

00:06:08the funny Vicar has been a staple of British comedy for decades but why would a comedian who

00:06:14had had such success in the world of alternative comedy take on this kind of character a far cry from

00:06:20her work in French and Saunders straight to comedy heaven Louise immobilized forever

00:06:26I was a bit sceptical that it could work and I really didn't want to be playing a lead role that

00:06:35was a fulcrum for everybody else's gags if you like and I knew that it needed to depend on the

00:06:44central character who could drive it properly I didn't know Richard that well but I liked him

00:06:51immediately and I trusted him immediately no no no what I'm suggesting is that we don't have the speech

00:06:56either I didn't know Richard that well but I liked him immediately and I trusted him immediately no no

00:07:02no no no what I'm suggesting is that we don't have the speech either oh I see what I'm suggesting is

00:07:16that it just goes is that we're all we have is you just standing there in your clothes and we think it's

00:07:22all going to be fine why have they dubbed me over with such a posh voice that is your awful voice I'm

00:07:29afraid God but what about the worry that a nice character just wouldn't be very funny I just

00:07:35didn't want to play a sweet person with no faults and I thought okay she's at the center of this mad

00:07:42group of people but she's ever so decent her intentions are very Christian and good and where

00:07:50are the jokes then how do you do I I'm Frank pickle I take the minutes on the council splendid very

00:07:57important job do forgive me if I instantly forget your name won't you I'm absolutely dreadful with

00:08:02names ask me to name the Virgin Mary's eldest son and no mine's gone black Jesus that's it and I hummed

00:08:10and I hummed and hard and hummed and hard and I think he ran out of patience about it and I think

00:08:15all along he had intended that of course she would have flaws and of course she'd have boyfriends and

00:08:20of course she'd have situations that tested her so I come on let's jump in I think that dawn if dawn is

00:08:28in anything if dawn is near anything it begins to shine differently but she's got this innate goodness

00:08:37in her and so she generates a kind of bloom which affects everybody who's around to help allay dawn's

00:08:44fears about how funny the Geraldine part would really be Richard recruited fellow comedy writer

00:08:49Paul Mayhew Archer to help him craft the scripts Richard I always got sense maybe the wrong sense

00:08:56that Richard was a sort of good inventor and then Paul was the guy you needed to sort of make all the

00:09:03wheels work all the make everything fit and also make everything funny we never talked about the

00:09:10process of writing at all before I started basically I gave him some storylines and said if you like any

00:09:20of these I'll write it up so I wrote it and then handed it to him and he then rewrote it and handed it back

00:09:28and and I rewrote bits of it and I sort of became aware of that's how the process is and it was it's a

00:09:38lovely process we literally never sit down together the way that Paul Mayhew Archer and Richard Curtis

00:09:45work together is extraordinary and I think it's the key to everything in this series and you can say to

00:09:53Paul Mayhew Archer by tomorrow Paul could you have 20 gags about Alice's dress thanks

00:10:00and then everyone goes away learns their lines come back and there are 20 choices the next day

00:10:05let me take your coat oh great oh nice blouse oh thank you my mum knocked it up from some curtains look

00:10:12with her partly because I've done I'm fab and partly because I've done French disorders people thought

00:10:19oh he knows how to handle those two difficult women um and recently partly true uh and so that's how it

00:10:29came into my life the script arrived and it's not you know not so far from episode one my memory is

00:10:37My memory is that it was a relatively easy sell and nobody thought it was going to be

00:10:43very controversial, is my memory of it.

00:10:47I mean, I think in some ways the only controversy was that we did actually make it a bit sort

00:10:53of ruder and edgier at some points than the premise would suggest.

00:10:59So I've got a feeling it was like programmed after nine o'clock because it had, you know,

00:11:05rather too much bestiality in it.

00:11:07See that you over there?

00:11:10She's pretty.

00:11:11No, no, no, no, yes, I wouldn't mind giving her one.

00:11:14And no, an angel of the Lord appeared before them and they were sore afraid.

00:11:21There's nothing to be offended at in this show.

00:11:24This was a show about goodness and people looking after each other.

00:11:29This is about a family.

00:11:32Beneath the chocolate box veneer of Dibley, there lurked a deeper controversy.

00:11:36It wasn't just David Horton who was opposed to female vicars.

00:11:39At the time the show began, the issue of women becoming priests was deeply divisive.

00:11:44In 1992, some 17 years after they first expressed support for the idea, the General Synod of

00:11:50the Church of England voted to allow women to become vicars.

00:11:53And two years later, the first 32 women were ordained in a ceremony at Bristol Cathedral.

00:11:59Not everyone within the church was singing from the same hymn sheet.

00:12:03What is being created today in Bristol Cathedral is not new priests, but it is a new order

00:12:08of transvestites, women dressed up as priests.

00:12:11Says the man in a lovely black frock.

00:12:13Just nine months later, the classic gestation period for both humans and sitcoms, Dibley hit

00:12:18our screens.

00:12:19I've been very lucky in my career life that I have had very little hate mail.

00:12:28Vicar of Dibley was when I got hate mail.

00:12:32People were furious about this show.

00:12:34It became such an issue.

00:12:36Because I always thought it was a non-story really.

00:12:39I mean, you know, we should have moved to that position a long, long, long time ago.

00:12:43I mean, it's amazing how these things strangely come up.

00:12:48And people only see that dramatic change when it actually happens.

00:12:52And to think, when you look back on it now, you think, what was all the fuss about?

00:12:57That is just an incredible thought, isn't it, that this would be the end of the Church

00:13:00of England.

00:13:01It would never survive if we ordained women.

00:13:03It was at a time when there were flying bishops.

00:13:05Do you remember this?

00:13:07They had to have people here in a sort of compassionate role who would go between parishes and council

00:13:13people to help them get through the fact that women were coming.

00:13:18Um, tough.

00:13:21Ah, Owen.

00:13:24This is Geraldine.

00:13:26She's the new vicar.

00:13:27Hello.

00:13:28No, she isn't.

00:13:30Why not?

00:13:31She's a woman.

00:13:32Oh, you noticed?

00:13:34These are such a giveaway, aren't they?

00:13:36Both you and I needed and wanted to be convinced that we were telling the truth, which is why

00:13:40we hung out with Joy Carroll, wasn't it?

00:13:43Yeah.

00:13:44To help them shape the character of Geraldine, Richard and Dawn consulted with one of the

00:13:47first female vicars to be ordained.

00:13:50In an impressive display of nominative determinism, she was called Joy Carroll.

00:13:55She showed them that faith, fun and friskiness needn't be mutually exclusive.

00:13:59Dawn didn't just want to know about what kind of clothes I wore as a priest.

00:14:04She was actually more interested in, why is a young woman like you even a Christian?

00:14:10Shouldn't you be out clubbing and, you know, having a good time?

00:14:13Well, she didn't know I did the clubbing thing as well.

00:14:16I just so remember having that cup of tea in her flat.

00:14:21Yeah.

00:14:22And when she started to, you know, swear and talk about boyfriends and all that kind of

00:14:28stuff and was robust, that I think gave both of us confidence that we could fool around

00:14:34a lot.

00:14:35And one of the things Dawn said was she noticed how many empties there were outside Joy Carroll's

00:14:40front door.

00:14:41And that seemed to be a very good indication.

00:14:44Oh, I see.

00:14:45Because are allowed to drink.

00:14:47They are allowed to eat chocolate.

00:14:48They are allowed to have sex.

00:14:50Hooray.

00:14:51Thank God.

00:14:52Maybe I'll play the part.

00:14:53I was afraid at the beginning that I, I mustn't bring her too close to me.

00:14:57Otherwise it, it felt as if I wasn't working hard enough or I felt as if I wasn't creating

00:15:04a character.

00:15:05But Richard reassured me all the way along that the closer I could bring her to me, the more

00:15:12I could experiment, if you like, with it and the more I could be truthful.

00:15:22Dibley is as much a village sitcom as it is a vicar sitcom.

00:15:28It was filmed in Turville in Buckinghamshire, where the residents were no strangers to cameras,

00:15:32with the village having been used as the location for countless films and TV shows.

00:15:37The windmill overlooking the village was made famous in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Lewis,

00:15:42Miss Marple and Midsomer Murders have all filmed on its country lanes.

00:15:47In fact the very shape of the Chiltern Hills that Turville nestles in helped inspire composer

00:15:51Howard Goodall's famous score.

00:15:53The tune that I wrote is kind of a bit like Hills.

00:15:57It's like a long landscape.

00:16:06His version of Psalm 23 has become one of the most recognisable pieces of religious music

00:16:11in the world, but it was conceived and written in a single day, in the back of a cab.

00:16:17In that cab, the tune that you now know, as the theme,

00:16:20came to my head and the way it would sound and everything.

00:16:23So it was then a race against time, and I got back to my studio,

00:16:27shoved down a little demo of me singing it at the organ.

00:16:31And more or less the same day, I think, I went back into the rehearsal room,

00:16:34said, oh, you know we were talking about the music.

00:16:36I've actually had a go at something.

00:16:38You know, what about this?

00:16:40And now, for what we are about to receive,

00:16:42may the Lord make us truly grateful.

00:16:44Here is Howard's demo, never heard before.

00:16:47Well, I mean, Howard's heard it, obviously, and the cab driver.

00:16:50Where do you get the idea?

00:16:52The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he maketh me...

00:16:59The clever thing about Dibley is that the fact

00:17:02that you have this beautiful chocolate box village,

00:17:06but it's kind of saying, let's strip away that

00:17:09and see actually what's under the surface.

00:17:11I mean, those parish council members, I mean, they are filth.

00:17:15Sex, sex.

00:17:17That's all you get on television these days.

00:17:19Is it?

00:17:20It is on mine, I watch the Playboy Channel.

00:17:24Church council meetings can be like teeth pulling, excruciating,

00:17:31going round in a circle, nothing getting decided.

00:17:35I mean, Dibley's a documentary.

00:17:37At the heart of the Vicar of Dibley is the parish council,

00:17:40a meeting of the sharpest minds in the village,

00:17:43which isn't really saying much about the village.

00:17:45They're mad. The characters are mad.

00:17:48And they're extreme, of course, which is what you need in a comedy.

00:17:51You need the extreme.

00:17:52This is a rural village, and the farming community

00:17:55is represented by Owen Newitt, who seems to be extremely fond of his animals.

00:17:59Trigger warning, it's comedy royalty Roger Lloyd-Pack.

00:18:03I've had my work accepted by several publications,

00:18:06including Man and Horse magazine.

00:18:09Oh, well, I'd love to see a copy of that.

00:18:13Unfortunately, the police seized them all.

00:18:17I seem to remember I couldn't believe that Roger agreed to do it.

00:18:22And I think we auditioned with quite a rough script.

00:18:27So, like, Roger saying yes to the part was one of those amazing things

00:18:32where you think, well, I've, like, set up one thing,

00:18:35but if we get an actor of this quality with that sort of carnality

00:18:41and darkness and kind of warmth as well,

00:18:45wow, it's going to get better for the casting of him.

00:18:48Oh, Owen, you wouldn't give me a hand with this shopping, would you?

00:18:51Mmm, what's in it for me?

00:18:53Erm, eternal salvation.

00:18:56Anything more, you know, un-nebulous?

00:19:00Chocolate hobnob?

00:19:02Let's do it!

00:19:04He's a giant in comedy terms, isn't he, really?

00:19:08Because he, you know, he's the only person I know

00:19:12who's had leading roles in two sitcoms

00:19:15that are sort of Christmas night sitcoms.

00:19:18He's basically playing a character who has, I don't know,

00:19:23very strange attitudes to his animals.

00:19:27I reckon if you treat Alice like I treat my prized cow,

00:19:31you won't go far wrong.

00:19:33Apart from making her eat grass

00:19:35and getting her mounted by a bull.

00:19:37Owen is probably in trouble with the animal rights people

00:19:44under police for his animal husbandry.

00:19:49I'm going to say husbandry in both senses if it were.

00:19:52As anyone who has attended a tedious meeting knows,

00:19:54you need someone there to keep track of all the tedious things

00:19:57everyone is saying.

00:19:58And the man of the minutes in Dibley was Frank Pickle,

00:20:01played by John Bluthill.

00:20:02I can think of five occasions when I was almost as honoured.

00:20:07After the sewers crisis...

00:20:09No! You stop right there, Frank!

00:20:11John's 60-year career included a raft of Shakespeare performances

00:20:15at the National Theatre and a long-running and much-loved partnership

00:20:18with comedian Spike Milligan.

00:20:20And here's a nice little fact for you.

00:20:22He was in both Help and A Hard Day's Night.

00:20:25He was basically the fifth Beatle.

00:20:27When we cast John Bluthill, we really had one joke.

00:20:32Pedantic guy who will make the Paris Council scenes funnier.

00:20:36Do you want to take a vote on that?

00:20:38On what?

00:20:40On the proposition by the vicar, seconded by Mr Newart,

00:20:44that there should be a slightly firmer hand on the rod.

00:20:47Well, of course we don't want to take a vote on it.

00:20:49Aye.

00:20:50All those in favour of not voting?

00:20:52That's one.

00:20:55All those in favour of a vote?

00:20:58Frank Pickle started off as the most boring man in the world

00:21:06and then we decided to make him gay.

00:21:10And that amazing episode where, finally,

00:21:13he comes out on the radio, on the local radio,

00:21:16and only Geraldine's listening.

00:21:19I first discovered I was gay...

00:21:22when I was 18...

00:21:32and I fell in love with a young farm hand called Justin.

00:21:37Hello, Frank.

00:21:40Hell of a good show last night.

00:21:43Brilliant.

00:21:44Most enlightening, Frank.

00:21:50You're...

00:21:52You're such...

00:21:53dear friends.

00:21:56Excuse me a moment.

00:21:57I need a minute to gather myself.

00:22:00Did anyone actually hear his show?

00:22:02Good God, no.

00:22:03Certainly not.

00:22:04Must be joking.

00:22:05No way, Hussain.

00:22:07Thought not.

00:22:08The whole issue of being gay

00:22:10had completely transformed during the last decade

00:22:13or two decades.

00:22:14I'd just done four weddings

00:22:16and in four weddings there's a gay couple

00:22:18and nothing is made of that fact.

00:22:22I have to say I thought that John Bluthal, Bluey,

00:22:27delivered that really beautifully, I have to say,

00:22:30because he also...

00:22:32You wouldn't have expected it of that character.

00:22:35And it was just very, very quiet.

00:22:37Nobody...

00:22:38I mean, that was the joke.

00:22:39Nobody heard it.

00:22:41So it had to be pointed out at a later stage.

00:22:45And still nobody minded.

00:22:47Oh, I see.

00:22:48Every council needs a leader.

00:22:50Someone high status.

00:22:51Someone who thinks they are more important

00:22:53than everybody else.

00:22:54In this case, it is lord of the manor

00:22:56and pillock of the community, David Horton MBE,

00:22:59played by Gary Waldhorn.

00:23:01Oh, gosh, Gary Waldhorn playing David.

00:23:03I mean, it's pretty sort of...

00:23:05He made the best of a really ghastly person.

00:23:08Can we get on, Vicar?

00:23:10I've got a meeting in April.

00:23:12Patronising, insincere, vain.

00:23:17He couldn't have done it more beautifully.

00:23:20The trouble is that you don't realise anything.

00:23:24You're a good woman with a good heart,

00:23:27but you should be running a cake stall,

00:23:29not a church.

00:23:30He retains his pomposity.

00:23:33He does think he owns the village

00:23:35and he does think he has the best interests

00:23:38of the village at heart.

00:23:40I'm Alice.

00:23:41I'm playing Mary.

00:23:42I'm Hugo.

00:23:43I'm Joseph.

00:23:44I'm David.

00:23:45I'm Herod.

00:23:47One of the most memorable Dibley performances

00:23:52came from Trevor Peacock,

00:23:54who played the village oddball Jim Trott.

00:23:57You remember him, don't you?

00:23:59No?

00:24:00No, no, no, no.

00:24:02No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Jim.

00:24:05I did live in a small village

00:24:07and the one joke that I took from that village

00:24:09was there was a chap who used to start every answer

00:24:12with the words no, no, no, no, no.

00:24:15That's basically what we had when we cast Trevor in that role.

00:24:20No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, exactly.

00:24:29What was he doing?

00:24:31I mean, what was he doing?

00:24:33He was just magic.

00:24:35I was thinking how much he reminds me of Miranda Richardson in Black Attitude.

00:24:40You never had any idea how she was going to say a line.

00:24:44And that was true with Trevor, wasn't it?

00:24:46Yes, indeed.

00:24:47That literally what came out, the feelings that came out of his strange lines were so unexpected.

00:24:53And I was down to the last two boxes.

00:24:56Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds in one box, ten pay in the other.

00:25:03And the banker offered me one hundred thousand pounds.

00:25:08And no, no, no, no, no, no, Noel Edmonds asked me the question, deal or no deal.

00:25:20Well, I wanted a deal, so I said, no, no, no, no, no, deal.

00:25:34And for some reason that I cannot fathom, they thought I meant no, no, no, no, no deal.

00:25:47Every village needs an idiot.

00:25:49And if they're posh, even better.

00:25:51James Fleet was wonderful as the charmingly idiotic Hugo Horton with hair even floppier than his IQ.

00:25:57Oh, Hugo. That's an interesting emblem. What is it?

00:26:01It's, um, Terry Musialata, actually. I spilt it last night.

00:26:04I'm pretty sure that as I started writing Hugo, I think he probably is the one where I thought, oh, please, let's cast James Fleet.

00:26:14I mean, I think we might have seen a few other actors, but I kind of knew he'd be, he'd be marvellous.

00:26:20The only casting dispute I seem to remember that Richard and I had was about James Fleet playing Hugo because, um, it would mean that, um, David had, had fathered Hugo when he was about ten years old.

00:26:38I think there's only about seven years difference between James Fleet's age and Gary's age.

00:26:45My character is virtually the same character as Four Winners and a Funeral, except not as rich, I think, and even more stupid.

00:26:53Before, uh, before any of these programmes, I had, uh, I played a wider range of parts.

00:26:58I mean, don't think that that's all I did. Um, but now that's all I get. Uh, so, yes, he's single-handedly blighted my entire career.

00:27:08Hugo is a brilliant character because you, you, you think of him first as, as zany, you think of him under his father's thumb,

00:27:16but then he shows a little streak of real independence. You know, he is going to do what he wants to do.

00:27:23I, I suspect it's just being proud, uh, uh, and waging a rather childish war against Mrs. God.

00:27:29And so, it's not so much a good plan, uh, as the worst plan since Hitler's dad said to Hitler's mum,

00:27:35let's go upstairs, Brunhilde, I'm feeling a little saucy tonight.

00:27:40James would often pitch his own brilliant story ideas for Hugo, ideas that were, it seems, utterly ignored by the writers.

00:27:48There's supposed to be an episode about my mother, when my mother came back.

00:27:53And there was sort of the light of day. It would have been somebody great, probably Joanna Lumley or somebody.

00:27:58I would have loved to have played his mother. We never really know what happened to his mother,

00:28:02but it would have been nice if she kind of loomed in through the French windows, probably,

00:28:05looking gorgeous with a huge satin robe and evening gloves.

00:28:11That's not too much to ask.

00:28:13Hugo was on, was on, was on Richard's chopping, chopping dead list.

00:28:16I remember when we did the first series and he came up to me at the end of it and said,

00:28:19I'm writing, we're going to do an Eastern special.

00:28:22Uh, I'm thinking that maybe you could die.

00:28:25And I was saying, really? What? Die? What? Would I be in it?

00:28:31Yeah, yeah, you'd be in it and then you die and then...

00:28:34So he must have sensed there was resistance there.

00:28:36He was so desperate to write things with funerals.

00:28:39And then he wrote Mrs Cropley out because of, she must have offended him in some way.

00:28:44Liz Smith's 40 year career saw her create many memorable characters

00:28:48and her performance as Dibley's resident experimental chef, Letitia Cropley, remains a firm fan favourite.

00:28:55Very unusual sandwiches. What's this with the ham?

00:28:58Lemon curd.

00:29:00Good Lord.

00:29:01It's a really simple joke that, you know, she basically puts together strange ingredients.

00:29:06And what's amazing is that she was only in the first series in the Easter special

00:29:13and yet people remember her with the same affection that they remember all the other characters.

00:29:19Very, um, unusual taste.

00:29:21Yeah, well, I'll put in a bit of Tarasalamata as well.

00:29:27Her agent at the end of the first series said,

00:29:29I hope there'll be, you know, a rather bigger part for Liz in the future.

00:29:34And we thought about it and we thought,

00:29:36we can't really make it a much bigger part because we've got the central character.

00:29:41And so I think, I can't, I think it was Richard thought,

00:29:45oh, we'll kill Mrs. Cropley.

00:29:49And then we spoke to Liz and she said,

00:29:52well, the agent who said,

00:29:54well, I didn't, didn't meet at that bigger part.

00:29:56It was sort of just a few more close-ups.

00:29:59I know I can trust you.

00:30:01Oh, look.

00:30:03My cooking.

00:30:05Ah.

00:30:06Was I a great experimenter?

00:30:08A pioneer?

00:30:10Whose rich command of unorthodox mixtures

00:30:14will be the stuff of legend in the new millennium?

00:30:18Or was my food just ghastly?

00:30:22You can tell a dying woman the truth, Vicar.

00:30:26Very well.

00:30:27You are one of the greats.

00:30:30Mrs. Beaton, Delia Smith, Letitia Cropley.

00:30:33That's the Trinity.

00:30:35I thought so.

00:30:37One of the greatest English actresses of our generation in this scene.

00:30:41And you were great too.

00:30:42That was the first really, um, crunchy, emotional thing that we had to do.

00:30:53And it was genuinely awful to lose Liz.

00:30:57I still regret losing her, comically speaking.

00:31:01But it was quite fun.

00:31:02A lot of drama series do this now.

00:31:04They kill off characters you don't expect to go.

00:31:08And, you know, it was a shame we didn't kill off Dawn,

00:31:11but that would have meant we had to change the title.

00:31:24As much as it's a story about friendship and family and community,

00:31:28and the odd pretty you,

00:31:29The Vicar of Dibley is, at its heart, a story all about love.

00:31:33Geraldine's own romantic life saw more ups and downs

00:31:36than a holy rollercoaster over the course of the series.

00:31:38But one love story remained a constant.

00:31:41That of the Vicar and her scatterbrained verger, Alice Tinker, played by Emma Chambers.

00:31:47You can call me Alice.

00:31:48Right.

00:31:49Because it's my name.

00:31:50Oh, thank God for Emma Chambers.

00:31:54Emma entered the idea of this character with the full intent of creating somebody utterly, believably different.

00:32:06So she didn't, she wanted to invent a world of Alice that we are invited into.

00:32:12And that actually seems to be pretty attractive.

00:32:16Hiya, Vicarage. Alice Horton, Nae Tinker speaking.

00:32:20Oh, that's Nae as in born, obviously, not the Nae a horse makes.

00:32:25That would be Nae!

00:32:27In 2004, Richard invited cameras behind the scenes to film rehearsals of the Dibley Christmas special.

00:32:36I love him so much.

00:32:39This never before broadcast footage reveals how hard Emma worked to make sure every bit of Alice's dimness, sweetness and innocence shone through.

00:32:48I've got that first flutter of love, you know that?

00:32:51Spill into something.

00:32:52A brilliant and versatile actress, Emma had performed in period pieces and had appeared on stage at the National Theatre with Sir Ian McKellen.

00:33:01But it was her particular genius for comedy that made her so very loved by Dibley fans around the world.

00:33:13I'm sorry I have to do this, but it's the only way, okay?

00:33:17Right.

00:33:18What?

00:33:22Oh!

00:33:25Ow!

00:33:27That did hurt!

00:33:29Tinker has left the building.

00:33:32Oh!

00:33:34Emma was always right on the money.

00:33:35She was drilled and we'd run the lines and she'd say,

00:33:39Jimmy Jam, come and run the lines.

00:33:41And we'd go...

00:33:42And she was like...

00:33:43She could speed run it.

00:33:44She could do it in different accents.

00:33:45She would play against the meaning of the line.

00:33:48Scream with laughter.

00:33:50You know, we had fun.

00:33:51Yeah.

00:33:52Alice's thinking is different to anybody you could ever imagine.

00:33:56And so I think that gave Richard and Paul Mayhew Archer the chance to keep writing for Alice, keep pushing it further and further.

00:34:06So what could Alice think about this?

00:34:09You know that stuff that they're selling now at the local shop?

00:34:12Which stuff?

00:34:13I can't believe it's not butter.

00:34:16Oh, yes.

00:34:18Well, you know, I can't believe it's not butter.

00:34:22She looks about eight years old there.

00:34:24Yeah, yeah.

00:34:25Then yesterday, I went to Crookenden and I bought this other stuff like a sort of home brand.

00:34:29You know.

00:34:30Yeah.

00:34:32And you know, I can't believe it's not, I can't believe it's not butter.

00:34:37Hmm.

00:34:38I'm losing you now.

00:34:39Oh, right.

00:34:40Well, you know I can't believe it's not butter.

00:34:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:34:42You think it is butter.

00:34:43No, no.

00:34:44I mean, you know the stuff that I can't believe it's not butter is called I can't believe it's not butter.

00:34:52Probably, yeah.

00:34:53Probably, yeah.

00:34:54Yeah.

00:34:55Well, I can't believe the stuff that is not I can't believe it's not butter is not I can't believe it's not butter.

00:35:01And I can't believe that both I can't believe it's not butter and the stuff that I can't believe is not I can't believe it's not butter are both in fact not butter.

00:35:13And I believe they both might be butter in a cunning disguise.

00:35:22And in fact, there's a lot more butter around than we all thought there was.

00:35:27You shouldn't have been paid for this scene.

00:35:30You didn't say anything at all.

00:35:32I wasn't paid.

00:35:34I remember saying to Emma, you're going to be so famous,

00:35:37you're going to be like Baldrick.

00:35:38You're going to be...

00:35:40Because, see, I suppose it's the same sort of part.

00:35:43And she was all, oh, no, I don't think, oh, no, do you think?

00:35:47Oh, no, I don't...

00:35:48Practically every sitcom has an idiot.

00:35:52Somewhere in it.

00:35:53And the trick is to try and make the idiot a different sort of idiot so it feels fresh.

00:36:00And I think in the case of Alice, she's a sort of six-year-old idiot.

00:36:07And it means there's sort of, um, there's an innocence about her.

00:36:13Despite some of the extraordinary things she says.

00:36:16Once you're married, you can go to bed together too, which is absolutely scrummy.

00:36:22So I'm told.

00:36:23Though it isn't scrummy if you're not married, of course.

00:36:25Because then you go to hell and all your bits drop off.

00:36:28I do think the fact that Alice turned out to be so sort of 3D and funny kept Dawn on her toes.

00:36:35I think that was one of the dynamics we had, that they encouraged each other,

00:36:40almost like a double act, to be funnier.

00:36:43Knock, knock.

00:36:44Who's there?

00:36:45Ronnie.

00:36:46Ronnie who?

00:36:47Ronnie Barker.

00:36:51It would be funny if Ronnie Barker came to your door, wouldn't it?

00:36:56Oh, yes.

00:36:57It was, in a way, a show about being a woman.

00:37:02Yeah.

00:37:03You know.

00:37:04And two friends at the middle of it.

00:37:06Yeah.

00:37:07While Gerry and Alice's relationship was Dibley's most enduring love story,

00:37:11it was the vicar's quest for a man that was responsible for some of the show's most memorable moments.

00:37:16Of course Geraldine is looking for love.

00:37:19We're all looking for love.

00:37:21She makes mistakes, like we all do, en route.

00:37:26She learns the lesson that she shouldn't be too grateful for men's attention.

00:37:33Yes.

00:37:34But Geraldine received rather a lot of attention from men.

00:37:37There was the flirtatious Songs of Praise producer way back in Series 1, or on him later.

00:37:42At home, there was the charming accountant and the Randy vicar, both of whom made an appearance in the 2006 Christmas special.

00:37:49When I heard that Richard Armitage was playing the accountant and my love rival,

00:37:54I was just mightily relieved that it was someone as, you know, plain-looking and untalented.

00:37:59But let's head back to 1999.

00:38:01Remember when David's younger brother popped up in Dibley?

00:38:04Known to millions as Holby heartthrob Dr Barrett,

00:38:07Geraldine's new suitor Simon was played by Clive Mantle.

00:38:12The way it was set up was the fact that he, you know, he was a widower.

00:38:17You know, he'd lost his wife six years before,

00:38:20and he was probably a rogue and a ne'er-do-well and, you know, burnt the candle at both ends.

00:38:26So is there another special lady in your life at the moment?

00:38:29No, not at the moment.

00:38:30Bet you'd like one.

00:38:31Yes, I'd love one.

00:38:35Point me in the direction of a buxom blonde and I'd be out of that door like a bullet out of a great big gun.

00:38:43Blonde.

00:38:44Right, blonde.

00:38:46Shall I help you with that?

00:38:47No, I do it every day.

00:38:48Um, actually, if you could just help me at the back here.

00:38:53Thanks.

00:38:54Well, hello.

00:38:57Blondie.

00:38:59What, there's?

00:39:00Simon.

00:39:01Hi.

00:39:03Haven't heard from you for ages.

00:39:05Ever think of, er, dropping by?

00:39:07What, Saturday?

00:39:09This Saturday?

00:39:09Well, obviously, I'll, um, have to check my diary.

00:39:14Just to see if I've got any time at all.

00:39:17Yes.

00:39:19It does seem that I have got a hole available.

00:39:21Window.

00:39:22Available.

00:39:23Do you know any jokes?

00:39:25Because I do.

00:39:25Here's one.

00:39:26Where does Saddam Hussein keep his CDs?

00:39:28In Iraq.

00:39:32It's not difficult to flirt with Dawn,

00:39:34because Dawn's a natural flirt to whoever is in the room,

00:39:38and it's certainly no difficulty, er, to have to, er, to kiss her,

00:39:43er, and, er, as many times as she, er, thinks the rehearsals need.

00:39:48Well, Geraldine, you know, is a carnal creature,

00:39:52and, er, under the cassock,

00:39:56it, er, beats the heart of a horny woman.

00:39:59Ha, ha, ha!

00:40:00And so, you know, she certainly goes for it.

00:40:05It was me that asked to have the silly hair and, er,

00:40:21make-up everywhere and, er, to be sort of dishevelled,

00:40:24because we all know that's kind of what happens,

00:40:28and it's allowed to happen for Geraldine as much,

00:40:30and you needed to invest in her love, if you like.

00:40:35You needed to want her to be having fun as well as finding love.

00:40:42Simon and Geraldine didn't spend all their time in the bedroom.

00:40:47They also went for wholesome strolls and picnics in the Dibbley countryside,

00:40:51even when the weather meant there were puddles around.

00:40:54Er, the puddle.

00:40:55I remember seeing it in the script and thinking,

00:40:58OK, that's going to be an interesting day,

00:40:59and I knew that it was in, er, you know,

00:41:01we were going to be filming in winter, I think it was November,

00:41:04I can't remember exactly, but it was certainly cold.

00:41:07All of that.

00:41:08But I thought, there's something in me,

00:41:09and this comes from comic strip days and Jennifer days.

00:41:12If you're going to challenge me to something physical like that,

00:41:16I'm going to do it.

00:41:17And I relish the thought of doing it, actually.

00:41:20It was perfect.

00:41:35Nothing was wrong about it.

00:41:37You know, took my breath away a little bit when I went in,

00:41:40and I did have a secret wee.

00:41:43Because you do, don't you?

00:41:45Now, that puddle has followed me through my life endlessly.

00:41:51You cannot imagine how many times I am asked

00:41:54if I'd like to jump in a puddle for charity,

00:41:57for other people's amusement, for lots of reasons.

00:42:01But once she clambered out of the puddle and dried off,

00:42:04it turned out that Simon and Jerry weren't to be.

00:42:07Why don't we just say that that was the autumn that was?

00:42:12Let's...

00:42:13Let's see what winter brings.

00:42:16Yeah?

00:42:18Either that, or get out of my house,

00:42:21you treacherous, gigantic, elongated bastard.

00:42:25By a narrow margin, he's not the right guy,

00:42:28and we're glad that she's not with him in the end.

00:42:30I was meant to do two episodes in that second season,

00:42:34but Holby wouldn't release me for enough time.

00:42:37So, sadly, I could only do the one episode

00:42:40in the second series that I was in,

00:42:43and it would have been lovely to spread it out

00:42:47over three episodes as opposed to two, yeah.

00:42:49Just a couple of episodes later,

00:42:51Geraldine was also briefly engaged to David Horton.

00:42:54Geraldine Granger, will you marry me?

00:42:58But the folly of those nuptials

00:42:59was brought into sharp relief

00:43:01with the arrival of another guest star.

00:43:03No! Don't do it, Geraldine.

00:43:06It's me you love, not him.

00:43:11Of course.

00:43:15Are you right?

00:43:17Save me, Sean.

00:43:18Save me, Sean.

00:43:20Save me!

00:43:23No! No, I can't!

00:43:25David is never going to be the right partner for Geraldine.

00:43:32Can I just say,

00:43:33it was that comment that broke Gary Waldhorn's heart.

00:43:40You are getting a flavour here

00:43:42of Dawn's way of reacting to the scripts.

00:43:45She says Geraldine wouldn't,

00:43:48but she really means

00:43:49Geraldine's so close to me

00:43:53that she'll do...

00:43:56I mean, if you put the wrong kind of chocolate out for Dawn,

00:43:59she would say,

00:44:00Geraldine will never eat a dime bar,

00:44:02whereas what she meant is,

00:44:04I'm in the mood for a bounty.

00:44:06While the vicar may have been unlucky in love over the years,

00:44:20series two of Dibley saw one burgeoning romance

00:44:23that warmed all of our hearts.

00:44:25From the moment they set their really very tiny minds on each other,

00:44:28we were all rooting for Dibley's own Ross and Rachel,

00:44:31Alice and Hugo.

00:44:32That was a love story that really kept on giving.

00:44:39Well, you know,

00:44:40how delicious to have a situation

00:44:42where two characters clearly need to be together

00:44:46but haven't got the courage

00:44:49or haven't noticed that they should.

00:44:52And, you know,

00:44:52and for Geraldine to be able to see

00:44:55that Alice has got a crush on Hugo,

00:44:58you know,

00:44:59that was just a delight to be able to play that

00:45:02and to watch it happening

00:45:03and to play Cupid for the two of them.

00:45:07Don't tell me that Hugo hasn't even kissed you yet.

00:45:11I just don't think that he loves me.

00:45:14Oh, that's nonsense.

00:45:17It's just you've got to give these things time,

00:45:19that's all.

00:45:20I know.

00:45:20How long have you known him?

00:45:23Uh, 26 years.

00:45:26You're going to lose that girl

00:45:27if you don't kiss her soon.

00:45:29Oh?

00:45:30And that would be a tragedy, wouldn't it?

00:45:32Yes,

00:45:32because I love her,

00:45:33like Romeo loved Juliet.

00:45:35Good.

00:45:36Like Richard loves Judy.

00:45:40That's less good.

00:45:42It'll come as no surprise

00:45:44that neither of them

00:45:45had gone out with anybody else

00:45:46previous to this involvement,

00:45:49so...

00:45:49So they're both very, very innocent.

00:45:52Yes,

00:45:53it's just charming.

00:45:53Ah, look who we have here.

00:46:01Hello, Hugo.

00:46:02Hello, Alice.

00:46:06I'll just go and make some tea then, shall I?

00:46:09Hugo,

00:46:10I believe there's something you have to do.

00:46:17Two lovely young people,

00:46:20their tender lips meeting for the first time,

00:46:22and a whirlwind of passion

00:46:24that is, in fact, true love.

00:46:28Oh, for heaven's sakes,

00:46:30just kiss, you morons!

00:46:33The slow burn

00:46:34of Hugo and Alice is, uh...

00:46:38I think some people might have thought

00:46:39this is just a car crash,

00:46:41but actually it turned into, you know,

00:46:43a beautiful thing.

00:46:44Good luck, Alice.

00:46:46Good luck, Hugo.

00:46:47Yes!

00:46:54Yes!

00:46:55Houston, we have kiss off!

00:46:58What age do you think you were

00:47:00when you first kissed somebody

00:47:01that wasn't your mum?

00:47:0428?

00:47:04I can't answer that.

00:47:0528?

00:47:06I can't remember now.

00:47:07I'm not going to go on with this joke.

00:47:09OK.

00:47:10But once that first kiss had happened,

00:47:12it's safe to say

00:47:13they really got their hand in.

00:47:15Metaphorically speaking, of course.

00:47:20Alice?

00:47:24Tell me, Vicka,

00:47:26is Alice all right?

00:47:28Oh, she's absolutely fine.

00:47:29Please feel free

00:47:30to just step right over them.

00:47:43You must not underestimate James Fleet.

00:47:45Eminently fanciable, actually,

00:47:48as Hugo,

00:47:49but utterly perfectly right

00:47:50for Alice.

00:47:52But the path of true love

00:47:54never runs smooth.

00:47:55I mean, not if you're writing a sitcom.

00:47:57Where's the fun in that?

00:47:58And the bumps in the road

00:47:59in Dibley

00:48:00were distinctly David-shaped.

00:48:02So what did he say?

00:48:04Well, I can't tell you

00:48:05what he actually said

00:48:05because you're the vicar.

00:48:07But, well, let's say

00:48:09a certain word

00:48:10is represented by another word

00:48:12that sounds a little like

00:48:14that word.

00:48:15Like, um,

00:48:16like,

00:48:17duck, for instance.

00:48:19He asked me

00:48:20what the duck I was playing at.

00:48:22He said,

00:48:22if I ducking loved

00:48:24Alice ducking tinker,

00:48:25and if I ducking kissed her again,

00:48:27he'd make sure

00:48:28I was well and truly ducked.

00:48:29Oh, duck me.

00:48:31I don't know

00:48:32who David thinks

00:48:33he's going to marry him,

00:48:34but, um,

00:48:36but, no,

00:48:37it's, it's,

00:48:37that's the beautiful thing

00:48:39about Hugo.

00:48:39He's, like,

00:48:40loyal,

00:48:41and he can be brave

00:48:43when he has to be, yeah.

00:48:44If you continue

00:48:45to consort with that

00:48:46tinker twerp,

00:48:47you will no longer

00:48:48be welcome in this house,

00:48:50you will no longer

00:48:51be my son,

00:48:52and as this will

00:48:53attests,

00:48:54you will have

00:48:55nothing.

00:48:55And there's a long pause,

00:49:01and you think,

00:49:02don't give in.

00:49:05Don't give in, Hugo.

00:49:11On the contrary, sir,

00:49:13I will have everything

00:49:15in the world

00:49:16that I desire.

00:49:16On the contrary, sir,

00:49:25I shall have everything

00:49:27in the world

00:49:27that I desire.

00:49:30It's epic.

00:49:31It just lifts,

00:49:32it lifts the whole thing

00:49:34to a Jane Austen novel.

00:49:36In the words of Sigourney Weaver

00:49:38in the film Aliens,

00:49:40I just want to say...

00:49:42Get away from her,

00:49:43you bitch.

00:49:46No.

00:49:49No, earlier,

00:49:50to the little girl.

00:49:52Oh, you stay

00:49:53in the ventilation shaft,

00:49:54I'll check the corridor.

00:49:56Just let me finish.

00:49:57Yes, sorry.

00:49:59They're a bit hard

00:49:59to watch, aren't they?

00:50:01They are, yeah.

00:50:05I just want to say,

00:50:07I will never leave you.

00:50:10That's a promise.

00:50:13I love you, Alice Tinker.

00:50:16And I have to know,

00:50:18will you do me

00:50:19the greatest honour

00:50:19in the world

00:50:20and consent to be my wife?

00:50:24No.

00:50:25But I thought that you...

00:50:26No, I mean,

00:50:27let me finish.

00:50:30No question

00:50:31I've ever been asked

00:50:34has been easier to answer.

00:50:38Apart, perhaps,

00:50:39from when my mum asked me

00:50:40which of the Teletubbies

00:50:41I most liked.

00:50:44Because the answer

00:50:45was tinky-winky.

00:50:46Absolutely.

00:50:47Just like that.

00:50:48But even including that,

00:50:51there's no question

00:50:52I've ever been asked

00:50:53has my answer

00:50:56been more certainly

00:50:57and more positively.

00:50:59yes.

00:51:01Yes.

00:51:04That's right.

00:51:08Crackerjack.

00:51:10I was suddenly reminded

00:51:12how seriously

00:51:13M took

00:51:14her performances.

00:51:17Yes, she did.

00:51:17Just remember her

00:51:18worrying away.

00:51:20I know.

00:51:21I know.

00:51:21So much effort

00:51:22got into it.

00:51:23We come together

00:51:25to witness the marriage

00:51:26of Alice and Hugo.

00:51:28But before we start the service

00:51:30we're going to sing

00:51:31one of Alice's favourite hymns.

00:51:33I say

00:51:34hymn.

00:51:35I'd like to make a mention

00:51:52of the lady

00:51:53who came rushing

00:51:54into the church

00:51:55claiming

00:51:56that she was the reason

00:51:58the wedding

00:51:58should be stopped.

00:51:59If any person here

00:52:01knows

00:52:01of any just cause

00:52:03or impediment

00:52:03why these two

00:52:05should not be joined together

00:52:06in holy matrimony

00:52:07let them speak now

00:52:09or further hold their peace.

00:52:12Yes.

00:52:16I do.

00:52:20The groom is already married.

00:52:24He married me

00:52:25three years ago.

00:52:27And don't let him deny it.

00:52:28I've got the marriage certificate

00:52:29to prove it.

00:52:36Oh.

00:52:37Sorry.

00:52:38Wrong church.

00:52:43That woman is

00:52:44Geraldine McNulty

00:52:46who just so happens

00:52:47to be my very best friend

00:52:49and a very good actress.

00:52:50Repeat after me.

00:52:54I

00:52:55Alice Springs

00:52:57Tinker

00:52:57take the Hugo Horton

00:53:01take the Hugo Horton

00:53:05to be my lawful wedded husband

00:53:08to be my lawful wedded husband

00:53:12to have and to hold

00:53:15to have and to hold

00:53:18from this day forward

00:53:19from this day forward

00:53:20from this day forward

00:53:20for rich or for poor.

00:53:23We chatted on the phone

00:53:25about it Richard and I

00:53:26and then he said

00:53:27so then we have the big wedding

00:53:28of Alice and Hugo

00:53:29and you just write

00:53:31all the wedding jokes

00:53:32that I didn't write in

00:53:33four weddings and a funeral.

00:53:34and I came off the phone

00:53:36and I said to my wife

00:53:37I'm just going to write

00:53:38all the jokes that

00:53:39Richard didn't write

00:53:40in four weddings and a funeral

00:53:41and she said very helpfully

00:53:43she said

00:53:43but he wrote all the wedding jokes.

00:53:46There were four weddings.

00:53:47And I said

00:53:48for better

00:53:50for worse

00:53:51till death us do part

00:53:53Amen.

00:53:55Amen.

00:53:56In sickness and in hell.

00:53:58Yes I had to.

00:54:01That's a great skill of Dibley.

00:54:03It absolutely gets your heartstrings.

00:54:05You know

00:54:05most episodes

00:54:06there'll be something

00:54:07that makes you go

00:54:07You may kiss the bride.

00:54:12No, no Jim.

00:54:18Let's get back to the story

00:54:39of Geraldine's love life

00:54:40shall we?

00:54:41New arrivals in villages

00:54:42are always news

00:54:43and country dwellers

00:54:45can often be wary

00:54:46of those down from London

00:54:47those who move next

00:54:48to the farm

00:54:48pull on a pair

00:54:49of hunter wellies

00:54:50and complain about

00:54:50the distinct smell of cow

00:54:52and how they can't find sashimi.

00:54:54And when the book-loving

00:54:55accountant Harry Kennedy

00:54:56arrived in Dibley

00:54:57in the 2006 Christmas special

00:54:59Geraldine and Alice

00:55:00head to his front door

00:55:01to give him a piece

00:55:02of their mind.

00:55:03Oh, typical.

00:55:05So damn snotty.

00:55:08Mr. Townie Tosser

00:55:09can't even be bothered

00:55:10to answer the door

00:55:11to us common country folk.

00:55:13We absolutely hate him,

00:55:16don't we?

00:55:16We loathe him.

00:55:18We loathe him.

00:55:19And everything he stands for.

00:55:25Oh, hello.

00:55:27Hello.

00:55:29It was one of those

00:55:31really nice phone calls

00:55:32where my agent called me

00:55:34and he was very cool

00:55:35and he sort of said,

00:55:36Oh, hello, darling.

00:55:37Would you like to marry the vicar?

00:55:39I've got a feeling

00:55:40I talked to Dawn

00:55:41about Richard's character

00:55:44being quite clever

00:55:46and I think that was part of it

00:55:48that she was going to find

00:55:49her sort of romantic

00:55:51and intellectual equal

00:55:53and certainly in Dibley

00:55:54even a few brain cells

00:55:56were, you know,

00:55:58deeply welcome.

00:55:59So, Harry, lots of books.

00:56:00Yeah, yeah, lots of books.

00:56:02Absolutely love him,

00:56:03my weakness.

00:56:03Me too.

00:56:04Ignore her.

00:56:05Excellent.

00:56:06Your favourite book?

00:56:07No, really, ignore her.

00:56:08In any tea break

00:56:09when we went up to the table

00:56:11to get a cup of tea,

00:56:12every single one of them

00:56:12kind of sidled up to me,

00:56:15kind of took me by the arm

00:56:16and whispered in my ear,

00:56:18you realise that Harry

00:56:21is actually based on Richard Curtis.

00:56:23He's actually written himself

00:56:25into the series.

00:56:26Every one of them.

00:56:28So, I would sit back down

00:56:29and then as the scenes

00:56:31were going on

00:56:32I'd sort of glance over at Richard

00:56:33and think,

00:56:34I'm just going to base

00:56:35this character on you.

00:56:36I remember Dawn

00:56:37when she first met Richard

00:56:39thinking he was

00:56:40rather younger than her

00:56:44but she grew to love that.

00:56:48I did worry personally

00:56:50about how young he was

00:56:52and I remember saying,

00:56:55please, can I have a chap

00:56:57who is the right age

00:56:58and is a suitable paramour

00:57:01for her.

00:57:01I remember saying,

00:57:02what about Mike Palin?

00:57:03You know,

00:57:04and everyone was saying,

00:57:05no, that's, you know,

00:57:05we don't have to go that old.

00:57:07Michael Palin,

00:57:08I mean, that would have been,

00:57:09that would have been interesting.

00:57:11And what about you, Geraldine?

00:57:13I love Jane Austen.

00:57:14Yeah, I think Sense and Sensibility

00:57:16is my favourite.

00:57:17Well, any of the ones

00:57:18where the girl gets swept

00:57:19off her feet

00:57:19by a handsome stranger

00:57:20after a couple of juicy fistfights

00:57:22and a terrible misunderstanding.

00:57:24Right.

00:57:25And, uh,

00:57:25that ever happened to you

00:57:26around here?

00:57:26Any handsome strangers

00:57:28ever sweep you off your feet?

00:57:30No, no.

00:57:32I heard a rumour,

00:57:35it may have been planted

00:57:36in my ear

00:57:37by somebody naughty on set

00:57:39that it was actually

00:57:40supposed to be Ray Winston.

00:57:42So all the time

00:57:43I was thinking,

00:57:44oh, it was Ray Winston

00:57:45turned it down

00:57:46and they ended up

00:57:46having to settle for me.

00:57:49This all comes from Dawn.

00:57:50It's going to be like,

00:57:50get me a really handsome bloke

00:57:52to finish off the whole thing

00:57:53and, I don't know.

00:57:55But, no,

00:57:55she wanted to be happy,

00:57:57so we had to marry her off

00:57:59to Richard Armitage, yeah.

00:58:01Yeah.

00:58:04But before she could be married off,

00:58:06we were, of course,

00:58:07due a misunderstanding or two.

00:58:09Jane Austen would be proud.

00:58:10Oh, this vicar's

00:58:11clearly quite something.

00:58:12Everyone in the village

00:58:13seems to be obsessed with her.

00:58:14Well, no,

00:58:15I wouldn't say that.

00:58:15I know her very well.

00:58:17And actually,

00:58:17she's got massive faults.

00:58:19Oh, well,

00:58:20haven't we all?

00:58:21Well, I don't know.

00:58:22I haven't discovered

00:58:23any of yours yet.

00:58:26And I you have.

00:58:28Oh.

00:58:29Oh, vicar.

00:58:30Excellent to see you.

00:58:31David Horton,

00:58:32head of the village council.

00:58:33I see you're getting to know

00:58:34the vicar already.

00:58:36Just after a week,

00:58:37if you'll excuse me, vicar.

00:58:41On the subject

00:58:42of the massive faults,

00:58:44of the massive faults,

00:58:44obviously,

00:58:47I'm a big,

00:58:48fat liar.

00:58:49He comes from that,

00:58:51that sort of fast-fix world

00:58:53of instant gratification.

00:58:57And I think that

00:58:58he is looking for

00:59:00a simpler life,

00:59:01a more honest life.

00:59:03Lord,

00:59:04I don't do this very often,

00:59:05but just in case

00:59:06any of this on-the-knee stuff

00:59:07actually works,

00:59:09please,

00:59:09can you let him get

00:59:10a little crush on me?

00:59:11Just a bit.

00:59:12Oh.

00:59:13Do you want to let your comments?

00:59:18I just wanted to say,

00:59:19again,

00:59:20that was

00:59:21a wonderful evening.

00:59:22Yeah, it was.

00:59:24And I was just out

00:59:25of some clarification,

00:59:26re-dates and kissing.

00:59:28Oh, right.

00:59:30Well,

00:59:31I would say

00:59:32first date,

00:59:33definitely no.

00:59:35Right.

00:59:35Second date,

00:59:36probably no.

00:59:38Third date,

00:59:39definitely yes.

00:59:41with tons.

00:59:44Excellent.

00:59:45Well,

00:59:46thanks for clearing that up.

00:59:49He is very handsome.

00:59:50And,

00:59:51I mean,

00:59:52in a way,

00:59:52it was sort of,

00:59:53it's sort of a bit

00:59:55sort of dreamlike,

00:59:56isn't it?

00:59:56It's a bit sort of

00:59:58wish fulfilment.

01:00:00But he's so lovely.

01:00:02You are good.

01:00:16You are really good.

01:00:19Harry is the right one

01:00:20because Harry

01:00:22is romantic.

01:00:24And I think

01:00:25Harry was the chance

01:00:26for Richard

01:00:27and Paul

01:00:28to write

01:00:29a really good

01:00:30romantic hero.

01:00:32It seems

01:00:33that you're on the brink

01:00:34of going into

01:00:35some quite serious debt.

01:00:36Debt?

01:00:37Yeah.

01:00:38You see,

01:00:39I've worked out

01:00:40that my visit here

01:00:41tonight

01:00:41could actually

01:00:43constitute

01:00:43a third date

01:00:44and therefore

01:00:47you would in fact

01:00:49owe me the sum

01:00:49of one kiss

01:00:51with tongues.

01:00:54I remember

01:00:55constantly apologising

01:00:56to him on the set

01:00:57and saying,

01:00:57I'm so sorry

01:00:58you've got to kiss

01:00:58an old lady.

01:00:59I'm so sorry.

01:01:01But also

01:01:02enjoying it,

01:01:03of course.

01:01:04And because

01:01:06he's got such a twinkle

01:01:07and he played it

01:01:08so well.

01:01:09It's so nice

01:01:10when you really

01:01:11like your

01:01:11kind of

01:01:13on-screen partner

01:01:13and, you know,

01:01:14it's not awkward,

01:01:16it's just lovely

01:01:17and who doesn't

01:01:18want to kiss

01:01:18Dawn French?

01:01:19I mean,

01:01:19come on.

01:01:20Geraldine

01:01:21has obviously

01:01:22fallen hook,

01:01:23line and sink

01:01:23of a Harry,

01:01:24adores him,

01:01:26Harry turns up

01:01:27with a woman

01:01:27who's gorgeous,

01:01:28played by Keeley Hawes,

01:01:29his sister,

01:01:30Rosie,

01:01:30but she doesn't

01:01:31know that.

01:01:32With the arrival

01:01:33of Keeley Hawes

01:01:34on the scene,

01:01:34it seemed that

01:01:35Geraldine's love life

01:01:36was once again

01:01:37taking a nosedive.

01:01:39to release

01:01:40from the sort of

01:01:41questions in my heart

01:01:42Why are we here

01:01:44and where do we go

01:01:45and knock on us so hard

01:01:46And all the lessons

01:01:48are sometimes

01:01:49like I feel the same

01:01:51But I tell you one thing

01:01:53it's always better

01:01:54when we're together

01:01:55It's always better

01:01:58when we're together

01:01:59Yeah, we'll look

01:02:02at them stars

01:02:02and we're together

01:02:04Well, it's always better

01:02:07when we're together

01:02:08Well, that's the thing

01:02:21about Vicar

01:02:22you could have

01:02:22fantasy moments

01:02:24whenever you felt like

01:02:25we didn't have them often

01:02:25but we could

01:02:27you know

01:02:27it was the kind of show

01:02:28that could earn

01:02:29a moment like that

01:02:30and without it

01:02:31you know

01:02:32sitting uncomfortably

01:02:33it sat well

01:02:34But when she couldn't

01:02:36rely on divine intervention

01:02:37she decided to apply

01:02:38a little diva intervention

01:02:40Does that joke work?

01:02:42I don't know

01:02:43just watch the clip

01:02:44And as he passed me by

01:02:47he turned to me

01:02:50and gave me a smile

01:02:53And oh, look at Emma

01:02:57in there

01:02:57with one gesture

01:03:00with one gesture

01:03:03she steals the whole scene

01:03:05And I stood up

01:03:07and said

01:03:07it should've been me

01:03:08Oh, it should've been me

01:03:14Loved out of my seat

01:03:17and dreamed

01:03:17it should've been me

01:03:19Oh, it's in my mind

01:03:25People believe me

01:03:26That man is fine

01:03:28it should've been me

01:03:29Oh, it should've been me

01:03:38It should've been me

01:03:42Oh

01:03:43somebody called a pony

01:03:46That man is fine

01:03:48Oh, it should've been me

01:03:51The Punching of Keeley Hawes sounds like a book, doesn't it?

01:04:04It sounds like a new series.

01:04:06The Punching of Keeley Hawes.

01:04:09Really, I think that was a bit of a cheeky steal from my other life with Jennifer

01:04:15because I've probably punched Jennifer, I don't know, 500 times in my life.

01:04:21And then, of course, there's the Times on film.

01:04:24I love a bit of violence, and if you can introduce comedy violence

01:04:27into anything, you should.

01:04:30But, of course, Harry hadn't really married Rosie.

01:04:33Once Geraldine had stopped fantasising about beating up the woman

01:04:36she thought was her love rival and had returned to reality in Dibley,

01:04:39she was, it seems, in for a bit of a surprise.

01:04:43I've thought about it a lot and talked about it a lot,

01:04:46and I wondered whether or not you would consider marrying me.

01:04:54Hold on to your hymnals.

01:04:56When we left Geraldine, she'd just had a bit of a surprise on her doorstep,

01:05:10which so often happens in the country, what with foxes and all.

01:05:13But Harry wasn't the only surprise she ever found on her doorstep in Dibley.

01:05:17Sometimes she got lucky.

01:05:19Lucky, lucky, lucky.

01:05:21I'm sorry to interrupt.

01:05:22Has Elton arrived?

01:05:24Elton?

01:05:25Yeah, I heard he was opening the fair.

01:05:28I thought I'd just drop by and surprise him.

01:05:30Oh, God.

01:05:31Oh, God.

01:05:32You can hate me, can't you?

01:05:34I'm going to come clean with you, you totally fabulous woman.

01:05:38There's been a bit of a hiccup on the Elton front.

01:05:41Reg Dwight didn't show up, nor did Elton John,

01:05:45which paved the way nicely for me to come and play for the day.

01:05:50I can't believe it.

01:05:55I cannot believe it.

01:05:56Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure

01:06:00to declare the Dibley Fair officially open.

01:06:04I can't remember how we got Kylie.

01:06:07I mean, we must have just asked someone scary if she was free,

01:06:10but I remember being absolutely thrilled.

01:06:14I saw beloved Richard go to complete pieces.

01:06:22It was embarrassing, really, frankly, embarrassing.

01:06:26He went from being very much in control and writing this script

01:06:29and delighted to be there and, you know, Richard Curtis got a lot to say

01:06:34and turned into a stupid, prepubescent, silly boy.

01:06:45He just wasn't making sense because he was just utterly in love immediately.

01:06:49He couldn't speak.

01:06:50It was pathetic.

01:06:52Kylie Minogue's in the show.

01:06:53But not just that, no.

01:06:54Kylie Minogue's going to kiss me on the cheek.

01:06:56Right.

01:06:56What a story I'm going to have.

01:06:58And the winner is Hugo Horton.

01:07:03Congratulations.

01:07:09She's lovely.

01:07:10She's terribly nice.

01:07:11Very professional.

01:07:13She had a Winnie Bago.

01:07:14Nobody else did.

01:07:15It was so much fun to be in the Vicar of Dibley just for a day,

01:07:19to be an honorary member of the VOD family.

01:07:26It was out in the countryside.

01:07:28It was a beautiful summer's day.

01:07:29Someone gave me a punnet of prized cherries.

01:07:31I do remember that much.

01:07:33But being in the company of such a great cast and crew

01:07:36and having such a warm welcome, it was, yeah, it was beautiful.

01:07:40When Alice and Hugo came to christen their first child,

01:07:43the Bishop of Mulberry turned up

01:07:44in the voluminous shape of Richard Griffiths,

01:07:47who came equipped with dignity, charisma,

01:07:49and a bizarre vocal tick.

01:07:52Geraldine.

01:07:54Lala.

01:07:56Granny.

01:07:58Ainsley Harriet!

01:08:00Of course.

01:08:02Up until fairly close to recording,

01:08:05there was a thought that Rowan Atkinson

01:08:07was going to play that part.

01:08:08And indeed, Richard had sort of written it

01:08:10with Rowan in mind.

01:08:13Rowan was meant to be in it

01:08:14and said he was going to do it

01:08:15and then watched an episode of the show

01:08:17and thought, fuck that.

01:08:20I'm so sorry, Dick, he said,

01:08:22but it really is awful.

01:08:24We also had the opportunity to meet Alice's family,

01:08:27including her slightly mad mother

01:08:28and her even madder sister,

01:08:30played by Mel Gedroych.

01:08:31And this must be Alice's sister.

01:08:34Yes, this is Mary.

01:08:35Oh, hello, Mary.

01:08:37Hello.

01:08:38You're much taller than I imagined you'd be.

01:08:40Am I?

01:08:41Yeah, because I always imagined you're sitting down.

01:08:43Right.

01:08:44Alice never stops talking about you.

01:08:46I know absolutely every little thing about you.

01:08:49Really, Alice?

01:08:49She says you're the best vet in the world.

01:08:52I'm a vicar.

01:08:52And I remember getting the, um, script

01:08:56and it said,

01:08:57Mary Tinker,

01:08:59Alice Tinker's less intelligent sister.

01:09:02And I just thought,

01:09:03oh, bring it in.

01:09:05This is so fun.

01:09:07And, of course,

01:09:10Dawn's long-time doppelganger,

01:09:12Dame Darcy Bossel,

01:09:13made a memorably reflective guest appearance.

01:09:26Well, she's got a lot of style.

01:09:28She's very supple.

01:09:30Um, surprisingly supple.

01:09:34LAUGHTER

01:09:34I'd never really done anything

01:09:43that had such comedy to it.

01:09:46And that was constantly changing

01:09:48and developing as you were doing it.

01:09:49I think that was always surprising

01:09:51when there was sort of a set kind of script,

01:09:54but then, of course,

01:09:55it veered off all the time.

01:09:57Um, and, uh,

01:09:59Dawn made it look so natural.

01:10:01And it was really difficult

01:10:03to keep a straight face.

01:10:04APPLAUSE

01:10:13Dawn is a very fine physical comedian.

01:10:21I think we have to say that, aren't you?

01:10:23Just the way you...

01:10:25You're, as it were, the female...

01:10:27What?

01:10:28Be careful what you say now.

01:10:29I'm about to say the words of Mr Bean.

01:10:32No.

01:10:34No.

01:10:35I don't have the rubbery face for that,

01:10:37I'm afraid.

01:10:38You do?

01:10:38No.

01:10:38I don't, I said.

01:10:40Oh, careful, Curtis.

01:10:41You'll be the one with the rubber face in a minute.

01:10:43You've seen Dawn's right hook.

01:10:45Right, where were we?

01:10:47Bustle, Gedroych, Griffiths, Minogue.

01:10:49Oh, that's right, the proposal.

01:10:51The human honeypuddle that is Harry

01:10:52stands in Geraldine's hallway

01:10:54asking her to conduct his wedding

01:10:56like so many before him.

01:10:58Poor Geraldine.

01:10:59Always the vicar, never the bride.

01:11:01Or so she thinks.

01:11:02And I wondered whether or not

01:11:03you would consider

01:11:06marrying me.

01:11:12Well, yes, of course.

01:11:14I'd be delighted to.

01:11:19By then, she didn't think

01:11:20he was even considering her, really.

01:11:24Or that it could possibly ever work out.

01:11:27She'd already decided

01:11:28that this was bound to go wrong.

01:11:30Don't forget, we'd had Peter Capaldi.

01:11:32Tristram Campbell?

01:11:34You probably don't remember me.

01:11:35I was the producer

01:11:36when we did Songs of Praise.

01:11:38No, of course I remember you.

01:11:40Where, to her despair

01:11:42and her humiliation,

01:11:43she had misunderstood

01:11:44what he'd said.

01:11:46So I just wondered

01:11:47if you'd marry me.

01:11:52I wonder if you'd marry me.

01:11:54Yes.

01:11:56I mean, yes.

01:11:58Fantastic.

01:12:00Back in a sec.

01:12:06Hi.

01:12:07Hi.

01:12:08And this is Aoife.

01:12:10I didn't bring her in just now

01:12:11in case you said no,

01:12:12but, well,

01:12:12she'd love to meet you.

01:12:14Hello, Aoife.

01:12:16Aoife.

01:12:17Aoife.

01:12:19Yes, E-E-whatever.

01:12:21And you are?

01:12:23You're Tristram's

01:12:24fiancée.

01:12:26I don't think so.

01:12:26That is one of the

01:12:32kind of tricks,

01:12:33I think,

01:12:33of Dibley,

01:12:34that we repeat little moments

01:12:36but build on it

01:12:37each time

01:12:38or take a twist

01:12:39the other way.

01:12:39Right,

01:12:40so your full name

01:12:41is Harry...

01:12:43Jasper Kennedy.

01:12:44Oh, right,

01:12:45well, I hope that doesn't

01:12:46get a giggle.

01:12:47Fingers crossed.

01:12:48Yeah.

01:12:49And what's the full name

01:12:50of the lucky lady

01:12:52in question?

01:12:53Um,

01:12:54well,

01:12:55I don't know,

01:12:55a middle name,

01:12:56but...

01:12:56Oh, well,

01:12:57we can fill that in later,

01:12:58can't we?

01:12:58And just pray

01:13:00that that isn't

01:13:01embarrassing as well,

01:13:02otherwise it's going

01:13:02to be like a sitcom

01:13:03out there.

01:13:05Right,

01:13:05so just her first

01:13:06and last name then.

01:13:08Well...

01:13:09Oh, come on, Harry.

01:13:10You shouldn't be

01:13:11marrying someone

01:13:11if you don't even

01:13:12know their name.

01:13:14Well,

01:13:15obviously it's

01:13:17Geraldine.

01:13:19Geraldine.

01:13:20Granger.

01:13:21Granger.

01:13:25Pardon?

01:13:26It's Geraldine Granger.

01:13:29I'm asking you

01:13:30to marry me,

01:13:32Geraldine Granger.

01:13:34The...

01:13:34But she's...

01:13:35But what about that?

01:13:37What about that?

01:13:38Oh, the...

01:13:38What other woman

01:13:40you've been living with?

01:13:42Rosie, the pretty one?

01:13:43What about her?

01:13:43My sister.

01:13:45What?

01:13:46She's...

01:13:46She's my closest friend.

01:13:49What?

01:13:49I consult her

01:13:50about everything.

01:13:51What?

01:13:51And we've been

01:13:53trudging the fields

01:13:54together trying to decide

01:13:55if it's too rash

01:13:55or too soon

01:13:56or too stupid,

01:13:57but finally,

01:13:58I've decided

01:13:59that I must

01:14:00follow my heart.

01:14:04It's one of

01:14:07the simplest

01:14:08but the best

01:14:10gags

01:14:10that you can

01:14:11possibly write,

01:14:12which is

01:14:13hello,

01:14:14vicar.

01:14:15Will you marry me?

01:14:16By then,

01:14:17we have imbued

01:14:19Geraldine

01:14:19with all our

01:14:21hopes for her

01:14:22to be happy

01:14:23and finally,

01:14:24after quite a lot

01:14:25of embarrassment

01:14:26and quite a lot

01:14:27of heartache

01:14:28and watching

01:14:29other people

01:14:30be happy,

01:14:31finally,

01:14:32she has

01:14:32her moment.

01:14:34Geraldine called in

01:14:35her old friend

01:14:36Jeremy Ogilvie

01:14:37to do her wedding,

01:14:38played with oily charm

01:14:39by Hugh Bonneville.

01:14:40God is groovy.

01:14:41God is good.

01:14:42God is king of the neighbourhood.

01:14:43Go gods!

01:14:45I found Jeremy

01:14:46rather a confusing

01:14:47character, actually,

01:14:48because on the one hand

01:14:50he's being a sort of

01:14:51good-natured vicar

01:14:51and doing his job

01:14:53and on the other hand

01:14:54he's just a total lich.

01:14:55You know,

01:14:56I'd do anything

01:14:57for the most popular

01:14:58girl in college.

01:14:59What was it we called you?

01:15:00Oh,

01:15:00don't remember.

01:15:01Noah's Ark

01:15:02because everyone

01:15:03tried to board you

01:15:04sometimes two by two.

01:15:05If by lich

01:15:07you mean proposing

01:15:07to the vicar

01:15:08the night before

01:15:08she's about to

01:15:09marry someone else,

01:15:10then,

01:15:10yeah.

01:15:12Will you marry me?

01:15:13What?

01:15:14Ever since that night

01:15:15in Suffolk

01:15:16there's never been

01:15:16anyone but you.

01:15:18What night in Suffolk?

01:15:20Oh,

01:15:20oh,

01:15:20that night in Suffolk.

01:15:22I mean,

01:15:22he was wrong for her,

01:15:23clearly.

01:15:24He was somebody

01:15:25from her past.

01:15:26They were at seminary

01:15:26together.

01:15:27It was never

01:15:28going to work out

01:15:29but cloth-on-cloth action,

01:15:32surely there's

01:15:33got to be something there.

01:15:34Hugh Bonneville's

01:15:35character was smarmy

01:15:37and you wouldn't want

01:15:38Geraldine to end up

01:15:39with a smarmy person,

01:15:41be they a vicar or not.

01:15:43Your chauffeur

01:15:44awaits you.

01:15:45Now it was time

01:15:46to enjoy all the thrills

01:15:48of the big day.

01:15:50Beautiful white

01:15:51wedding dress,

01:15:52tick.

01:15:55She ends up getting

01:16:00married in her pyjamas

01:16:00because of the big

01:16:02kind of mud splash,

01:16:03which again was

01:16:04one of those brilliant

01:16:05stunts where everyone's

01:16:06sitting around going,

01:16:07come on then,

01:16:07let's see the mud.

01:16:08I, Geraldine

01:16:12Julie Granger,

01:16:14take thee,

01:16:16Jeremy

01:16:16Arthur

01:16:17Ogilvy,

01:16:18take thee,

01:16:21Harry

01:16:21Jasper

01:16:23Kennedy,

01:16:24to have

01:16:25and to hold

01:16:26from this day forward

01:16:28for better,

01:16:29for worse,

01:16:31for richer,

01:16:32for poorer.

01:16:33I never quite

01:16:34worked Jeremy out,

01:16:34he's only in about

01:16:35four scenes,

01:16:36but he goes from

01:16:37being someone

01:16:38that you think

01:16:38you can trust

01:16:39to being a bit

01:16:40of a liability.

01:16:41And there too,

01:16:43I give thee

01:16:43my troth.

01:16:49In as much

01:16:50as Harry

01:16:50and Geraldine

01:16:51have consented

01:16:52together in

01:16:53holy wedlock

01:16:53and have declared

01:16:55the same

01:16:55by the giving

01:16:56and receiving

01:16:56of a frankly

01:16:57pretty cheap ring,

01:16:58I pronounce

01:16:59that they be

01:16:59man and wife

01:17:01together.

01:17:01It was internal,

01:17:21actually,

01:17:22wasn't it?

01:17:22It was an internal

01:17:23moment of her

01:17:24heart soaring.

01:17:26One of the problems

01:17:26with the marriage

01:17:27though,

01:17:28which it was

01:17:29that it was

01:17:31sort of

01:17:31the end

01:17:33of the dynamic

01:17:34of the sitcom.

01:17:36So much

01:17:37of The Vicar of Dibley

01:17:39is that Geraldine

01:17:40is a single

01:17:41woman

01:17:42with a friend

01:17:43with whom

01:17:44she gossips.

01:17:45And the moment

01:17:46that there was

01:17:46a husband around

01:17:48to sort of

01:17:48defray all the

01:17:49complexity of that.

01:17:50I think it would

01:17:51have also been

01:17:52quite easy

01:17:52if we'd

01:17:53continued

01:17:53to have

01:17:54a tragic

01:17:56accident

01:17:56with a

01:17:57combine

01:17:58harvester

01:17:58which could

01:17:59have got

01:17:59rid of Richard

01:18:00in a trice.

01:18:02What do you call

01:18:03a budgie

01:18:03that's been

01:18:04run over

01:18:04by a lawnmower?

01:18:06The jokes

01:18:07at the end

01:18:07of every episode

01:18:08were always

01:18:08an extra treat.

01:18:10I don't know

01:18:11what do you call

01:18:12a budgie

01:18:12that's been

01:18:12run over

01:18:13by a lawnmower?

01:18:14You know

01:18:14the secret

01:18:15of comedy,

01:18:15don't you?

01:18:16Timing!

01:18:17In this case,

01:18:18three minutes.

01:18:18See you then.

01:18:24With the vicar

01:18:27married off

01:18:28and as we

01:18:29head towards

01:18:29our final

01:18:30amens,

01:18:30we can't

01:18:31leave that

01:18:31joke without

01:18:32a punchline.

01:18:33So does

01:18:34anyone know

01:18:34what you call

01:18:35a budgie

01:18:35that's been

01:18:35run over

01:18:36by a lawnmower?

01:18:37I don't know.

01:18:38What do you

01:18:39call a budgie

01:18:39that's been

01:18:40run over

01:18:40by a lawnmower?

01:18:42Shredded tweet.

01:18:45So the budgie's

01:18:47dead then?

01:18:47Yes,

01:18:48I think so.

01:18:49Shredded tweet.

01:18:52What a thing.

01:18:55I didn't even

01:18:55see the lawnmower

01:18:56coming.

01:18:58How could he

01:18:59know that

01:18:59death was

01:18:59just round

01:19:00the corner?

01:19:01I'm not going

01:19:02to tell you

01:19:03these jokes

01:19:03anymore if

01:19:04you're going

01:19:04to keep

01:19:04on responding

01:19:05like this.

01:19:06It's not

01:19:07a real budgie,

01:19:08OK?

01:19:08It's not a

01:19:08real lawnmower.

01:19:09It's just

01:19:10a joke.

01:19:12So the budgie's

01:19:13not dead?

01:19:13No,

01:19:14he never got

01:19:14born.

01:19:15Never got

01:19:16born?

01:19:16No.

01:19:19Poor little

01:19:20thing.

01:19:22The thing

01:19:22I love about

01:19:23the jokes is

01:19:24Emma's reaction

01:19:25to them

01:19:25is so profoundly

01:19:27human.

01:19:27It's not

01:19:28that she's

01:19:28stupid

01:19:30and just

01:19:32doesn't get

01:19:32it.

01:19:33She spots

01:19:34inside the

01:19:35jokes

01:19:35some kind

01:19:37of deep

01:19:37human

01:19:38tragedy

01:19:39on every

01:19:40occasion.

01:19:41She's so

01:19:41empathetic.

01:19:43Much love

01:19:44the world

01:19:45over for her

01:19:46performance

01:19:46as Alice

01:19:47Tinker,

01:19:47Emma Chambers

01:19:48died in

01:19:492018,

01:19:50aged just

01:19:5153.

01:19:54You know,

01:19:55Em's

01:19:55death is

01:19:57a terrible

01:19:58thing in

01:19:59all our

01:20:00lives and

01:20:00we miss

01:20:01her hugely

01:20:02and when you

01:20:03just think

01:20:04about that

01:20:04and it's

01:20:04only sorrow

01:20:06as well,

01:20:07the consolation

01:20:08from us

01:20:08is that I

01:20:09do think

01:20:10that the

01:20:10part

01:20:11radiated

01:20:14so much

01:20:15warmth

01:20:16and humanity

01:20:17and sweetness

01:20:19that I

01:20:20kind of,

01:20:21you know,

01:20:22in a way

01:20:22it keeps

01:20:23Emma alive

01:20:24and lovely

01:20:24parts of

01:20:25her alive.

01:20:27You know,

01:20:28we miss

01:20:29her terribly.

01:20:32When she

01:20:32died,

01:20:34I don't

01:20:35think she

01:20:35had the

01:20:36faintest

01:20:37idea how

01:20:38loved she

01:20:39was in

01:20:40the nation.

01:20:40I mean,

01:20:41it was the

01:20:41outpouring.

01:20:42It was sort

01:20:43of headline

01:20:43news.

01:20:44I mean,

01:20:44it was just

01:20:45amazing.

01:20:45She'd not

01:20:46worked as

01:20:46much as

01:20:47she should.

01:20:48I think

01:20:48she got

01:20:48it into

01:20:49her head

01:20:49that somehow

01:20:52Alice had

01:20:53cursed her

01:20:54as well

01:20:54as applauded

01:20:55her,

01:20:56as it were,

01:20:56that somehow

01:20:58it had

01:20:59given the

01:21:00public the

01:21:00idea that

01:21:01she was

01:21:02thick or

01:21:04that she

01:21:04was ugly

01:21:05or, you

01:21:06know,

01:21:07she wasn't,

01:21:08she was a

01:21:08brilliant comedy

01:21:09character actress

01:21:10and it's very,

01:21:11very sad that

01:21:11we've lost her.

01:21:12I mean,

01:21:13the strange

01:21:13thing about

01:21:14Dibbity is

01:21:14we have lost

01:21:15a lot of

01:21:16members of

01:21:18the cast,

01:21:18can't believe,

01:21:19you know,

01:21:20Roger and

01:21:21John and

01:21:22Liz,

01:21:22so I suppose

01:21:23that's what

01:21:23comes if you

01:21:25have a slightly

01:21:25older cast.

01:21:28We had such

01:21:29a happy time

01:21:30together,

01:21:31as it were,

01:21:32I don't think

01:21:32we can feel

01:21:33bad about it.

01:21:34You can feel

01:21:35sad about

01:21:35losing them,

01:21:36but since it

01:21:37was almost

01:21:37the happiest

01:21:38work experience

01:21:39in my life,

01:21:40I think,

01:21:41as it were,

01:21:41when you look

01:21:41back on them,

01:21:42you say,

01:21:44there,

01:21:44that group

01:21:45of people

01:21:45had fun.

01:21:47Yeah.

01:21:48This felt like

01:21:49a family,

01:21:50so I think

01:21:51when people

01:21:52have gone,

01:21:53I felt

01:21:54true loss.

01:21:55But you're

01:21:56right,

01:21:56there's such a

01:21:57lot of happy

01:21:58memories that

01:21:59it's okay,

01:22:00it's okay.

01:22:01You are the

01:22:02least boring

01:22:05vicar a parish

01:22:06could ever have.

01:22:08Because of you,

01:22:09the church is full,

01:22:10not empty.

01:22:12And because of you,

01:22:13our lives are full,

01:22:15not empty.

01:22:15As a final treat

01:22:19before we go,

01:22:20Richard and Dawn

01:22:21are taking one

01:22:22last peek behind

01:22:23the scenes,

01:22:23to be reminded

01:22:24of old friends

01:22:25and colleagues

01:22:25from their time

01:22:26in Dibley.

01:22:27Yeah,

01:22:27I think it's

01:22:28working.

01:22:28Yes,

01:22:28I think it's

01:22:29worked.

01:22:30In 2004,

01:22:33the cast reunited

01:22:34for a Christmas

01:22:34special,

01:22:35and this is the

01:22:36first time that

01:22:37Dawn,

01:22:37Richard,

01:22:38or anyone else

01:22:39has seen this

01:22:40footage of the

01:22:40rehearsals for

01:22:41that show,

01:22:42featuring one of

01:22:43Dibley's most

01:22:43famous,

01:22:44if messy,

01:22:45scenes.

01:22:46Hey,

01:22:47chocolate fountain!

01:22:52Oh,

01:22:53come to mother!

01:22:59What you do,

01:23:00what you do is

01:23:01you stick a

01:23:02marshmallow in.

01:23:04Yes,

01:23:04yes,

01:23:04you can see that.

01:23:05Get out to...

01:23:06No,

01:23:06wait.

01:23:06Oh,

01:23:07come to mother!

01:23:10So,

01:23:11you take a

01:23:11marshmallow...

01:23:12Yes,

01:23:12I know what to

01:23:13do,

01:23:13Bowen,

01:23:13get out of the way!

01:23:17Oh.

01:23:21Mmm,

01:23:22that is very,

01:23:23very good.

01:23:24It felt like a

01:23:25bunch of school

01:23:25kids putting on

01:23:26a play for mum

01:23:26and dad,

01:23:27and what would be

01:23:27the best way to

01:23:28do it,

01:23:28and I'll come out

01:23:29of the cupboard,

01:23:29and you hide under

01:23:30the table.

01:23:31And then I can

01:23:31catch some coming

01:23:32off it like this.

01:23:33Yeah,

01:23:33this one's going to

01:23:34work.

01:23:34This is just,

01:23:35it is going to be

01:23:35a cascade of

01:23:36chocolate.

01:23:36I might just...

01:23:37So then I'll have

01:23:41a bit there.

01:23:41Yeah.

01:23:42Yeah.

01:23:49Yeah,

01:23:50that is

01:23:50fantastic.

01:23:51When you do the

01:23:52technical rehearsal,

01:23:53there's always about,

01:23:54there'll be many,

01:23:56many things to remember

01:23:56in the course of the day.

01:23:57So they'll say,

01:23:58when we do that scene,

01:23:58James,

01:23:59do you think you could

01:23:59look at him when you

01:24:00say that,

01:24:00or look,

01:24:01turn to him when you

01:24:01say the end of that line

01:24:02and you go,

01:24:03yeah,

01:24:03okay.

01:24:03There are millions

01:24:04of things like that

01:24:04and I'd have,

01:24:05in the course of the

01:24:06show,

01:24:06I'd have like four

01:24:07things to remember

01:24:08and I'd remember

01:24:10one of them,

01:24:11you know,

01:24:11probably.

01:24:12Dawn would have

01:24:13like 25 things

01:24:15to remember

01:24:16and she'd get them

01:24:17all right.

01:24:18Well done,

01:24:18boys,

01:24:18and now for our

01:24:19second,

01:24:19I dare say,

01:24:20almost more

01:24:21extraordinary surprise.

01:24:22Oh, dear.

01:24:23Sorry?

01:24:24Oh, slight problem

01:24:25developing.

01:24:26Can I help?

01:24:27It's just too late.

01:24:27I'm going to have to,

01:24:28I'm safe,

01:24:28sir.

01:24:29I'm just going to have

01:24:29to...

01:24:29No, you can't help

01:24:38at all,

01:24:38I'm afraid.

01:24:40I wish you could help,

01:24:41but, um,

01:24:42it's just too late.

01:24:44Could you hold this

01:24:45for me, please?

01:24:47Because I'm going in.

01:24:49I think it was worth it.

01:25:03Sorry about that.

01:25:04I think it was worth it.

01:25:06Right, what was,

01:25:06sorry,

01:25:06what was your second surprise?

01:25:08Sorry,

01:25:08you were saying

01:25:09about a second surprise.

01:25:10The second surprise

01:25:11is that to honour

01:25:12your ten years here,

01:25:13I have convinced

01:25:13my old friend,

01:25:14the Archbishop of Canterbury,

01:25:16to drop in to see you

01:25:17on his way to London tonight.

01:25:19Oh, that's a good one.

01:25:33His entrance

01:25:34utterly stunned the audience

01:25:37because they thought

01:25:38he was the Archbishop of Canterbury.

01:25:40Geraldine,

01:25:41this is the Archbishop

01:25:42of Canterbury.

01:25:43Archbishop,

01:25:44this is Geraldine,

01:25:46our vicar.

01:25:47Do feel free

01:25:48to have a nick.

01:25:49The lines

01:25:55that you were

01:25:56wetting yourself

01:25:57with at the read-through

01:25:58in the first couple

01:25:59of days of rehearsal

01:26:00are suddenly supplanted

01:26:01by an even better line

01:26:03which comes in.

01:26:04You're lost.

01:26:04Feel free to lick me.

01:26:09Is that so darling?

01:26:11Do feel free

01:26:12to lick me.

01:26:13Do feel free

01:26:15to lick me

01:26:17if you so desire?

01:26:20No.

01:26:23Please yourself.

01:26:26Free country.

01:26:28This is

01:26:29and always will be

01:26:31the place for me.

01:26:32Amen.

01:26:33Merry Christmas.

01:26:34Merry Christmas, buddy.

01:26:38This is

01:26:39and always

01:26:40will be the place

01:26:41for me.

01:26:43God bless you.

01:26:44Loads more

01:26:45Christmas specials.

01:26:46Loads more

01:26:47Christmas specials.

01:26:47See you, same slot

01:26:53next Christmas day.

01:26:55You go back

01:26:58to Vicar of Dibley

01:26:59and you watch it

01:27:00I find now

01:27:0125 years on

01:27:02and it's still fresh

01:27:04it's still funny

01:27:05it still works.

01:27:07Like a lot of things

01:27:08I've done

01:27:08in my career

01:27:10one of the reasons

01:27:11to continue doing it

01:27:13after the very first time

01:27:14besides it being

01:27:15successful

01:27:16luckily for us

01:27:16is because

01:27:17I get a chance

01:27:19to spend time

01:27:19with these people.

01:27:20I turned up

01:27:21for one day

01:27:22I had the most

01:27:22brilliant fun day

01:27:23and it's

01:27:25it's

01:27:25it's remembered

01:27:27so

01:27:28yeah

01:27:29I'm super

01:27:30super proud

01:27:31can we go back

01:27:33and do it all again

01:27:34please?

01:27:35I think the Vicar of Dibley

01:27:37introduced a new way

01:27:39of being

01:27:40a family

01:27:41a church family

01:27:42that people

01:27:44found attractive

01:27:45so

01:27:46I've loved

01:27:47watching them all.

01:27:48I don't know

01:27:49what the future

01:27:49of the Church of England

01:27:50looks like

01:27:50but I'm very glad

01:27:51that Dibley

01:27:51was part of our story.

01:27:53If one thinks

01:27:53that Paddington

01:27:54is a national treasure

01:27:55then Geraldine

01:27:56comes at a close second

01:27:57and

01:27:58while she may not

01:27:59eat that much marmalade

01:28:00she certainly

01:28:01can beat him

01:28:02in the chocolate steaks.

01:28:03It was very touching

01:28:04but above all

01:28:04it was terribly funny

01:28:05and the things

01:28:06that this country

01:28:07loves above all

01:28:08is stuff that

01:28:08makes you laugh

01:28:09and it made you laugh.

01:28:11It was a joy

01:28:12it was like a family

01:28:13we were very lucky

01:28:15the people we got

01:28:16got on with each other

01:28:18and got on with us

01:28:19and got on with the show

01:28:21and did it very well.

01:28:24The Vicar of Ghibli

01:28:25was probably

01:28:25probably the happiest

01:28:28professional experience

01:28:30I've had

01:28:31and I'm very grateful for that.

01:28:33Richard Curtis

01:28:34wanted to go to the heart

01:28:35of the politics of it

01:28:37and of the

01:28:39of the true emotion

01:28:42of all of it.

01:28:43An unbiased viewer

01:28:44could be in no doubt

01:28:45what kind of show it was.

01:28:47It was a sex romp

01:28:48in rural England

01:28:50with animals

01:28:51and old people

01:28:53and vicars

01:28:54it was

01:28:54I don't know

01:28:56I wish it all

01:28:59would be in prison.

01:29:01Well done Dawn,

01:29:01good effort.

01:29:01Not so bad after all.

01:29:03Yeah.

01:29:04Good work.

01:29:06Still think Miranda Hart

01:29:07would have been better.

01:29:12You are a

01:29:12good work.

01:29:31You are a

01:29:32You

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