Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Vicar of Dibley: Dawn French and James Fleet to star in Christmas mini-series filmed in lockdown

The three 10-minute-long episodes will air over Christmas on BBC One

Isobel Lewis
Tuesday 17 November 2020 09:02 EST
Comments
The Vicar of Dibley urges viewers to ‘praise the lord and the NHS’ as Dawn French reprises iconic role

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Vicar of Dibley will be returning to our screens with three special episodes airing this Christmas.

Dawn French will get everyone into the festive spirit as she reprises the role of vicar Geraldine Grainger as part of a mini-series titledThe Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown.

Written by Richard Curtis, the episodes will show the monthly sermons that Geraldine has been delivering to her parishioners over Zoom, with Hugo Horton (James Fleet) also appearing in the sketches.

“Back in the dog collar, back in Dibley and back on your telly at Xmas,” French said. “I couldn’t be happier. Bless you.”

Love Actually writer Curtis said of the show’s return: “Like every village in the country, there’s been a lot happening in Dibley this year – and Dawn has got a lot to say about it.”

The 10-minute-long episodes will air after repeats of classic episodes of The Vicar of Dibley that will be shown on BBC One over Christmas.

The series originally ran from 1994 to 2006, with French reprising the character for a number of short specials in the years since.

Earlier this year, the comedian starred as Geraldine in a short sketch for Comic Relief and Children in Need fundraiser The Big Night In, during which she urged viewers to “praise the Lord and the NHS”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in