Review of Vicar Of Dibley, The Complete First Series

Introduction

I was a late convert to Dibleyism on account of I`ve always found Dawn French such a tiresome smartarse, and Richard Curtis`s writing is a taste I haven`t quite acquired. I still feel the same way, but I`ve overcome my urge to switch over because of the marvellous supporting ensemble of grotesques put together in this series.

Dawn French`s character of Geraldine, the eponymous vicar landed upon the innocent village of Dibley, is unusually for a sitcom, the straightest character in the proceedings. Garrulous, chocoholic, she arrives in the "in-breeding capital of the world" to massive disapprobation from the church council - the aforementioned ensemble of grotesques.

Top of this heap is Emma Chambers` nice-but-dim verger Alice Tinker, described in the RT Comedy Guide as "a staggeringly naïve, off-beam young woman with the IQ of a kettle". From the word go she has a wonderful Stan Laurel rapport with Geraldine. One of the charms of the show is the post end-title epilogue joke on each episode where over a mug of cocoa Geraldine tells Alice a (usually) dirty joke. Gary Waldhorn, formerly best known as Karl Howman`s boss in Brush Strokes, plays community leader and pompous ass David Horton. He is the cornerstone of the church council and is aghast when Geraldine turns up as the replacement for their recently deceased vicar. James Fleet puts in a wonderfully gauche turn as Horton`s hapless son Hugo, a throwback to the denizens of the Drones club and desperately in need of a wise and conniving valet to keep him on the straight and narrow. John Bluthal, a regular in Spike Milligan`s Q series and forever etched on my memory as Huge Walnuts (Spike`s sendup of television heavyweight Hugh Weldon), plays the vague Frank Pickle. The series marks his televisual conversion to Anglicanism as between 1967 and 1971 he was the Jewish tailor Manny Cohen in the sitcom Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width. Trevor Peacock contributes a wonderfully incomprehensible turn as Jim Trott, village looney. The cast is rounded out wonderfully by Roger Lloyd-Pack trading his dim Trigger persona from Only Fools And Horses for the straight-talking (make that just plain rude) Owen Newitt. The first season also included the irreplaceable Liz Smith as Letitia Cropley, the church flower arranger and maker of indigestible food. The character was killed off in the 1996 Easter special.

This first series collection dates from 1994 and includes all six of the original 30-minute episodes.

Video

The episodes are presented in their original 4:3 aspect ratio. Video quality, as you would expect for a series of such relatively recent vintage, is excellent.

Audio

The episodes come with Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound.

Features

Closing Sermon is a collection of the series one epilogue jokes. Sadly, Universal (the publishers of the disc, not the BBC) have neglected to include subtitles for the hard of hearing.

Conclusion

This is how it all started, three seasons of episodes and a handful of specials screened over a ten year period. The show was a favourite of many from the start, but an acquired taste for some (such as myself). Created by Blackadder supremo and writer of those interminable Hugh Grant comedies Richard Curtis, the writing calibre of the show was always top form, performed by a marvellous cast of character actors in support of Dawn French. A classic comedy.