Trevor Peacock: Versatile actor behind Jim Trott on The Vicar of Dibley

Trevor Peacock was a multitalented actor, songwriter and lyricist who will always remain best known for his role as Jim Trott in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley.

Peacock, who has died aged 89, played the bumbling but much-loved character who had appeared in every episode of the programme since the long-running sitcom’s first broadcast in 1994. His simple catchphrase, “No, no, no, no...” and love of double entendre made him a favourite of audiences.

Trevor Peacock was born in Edmonton, north London, in 1931, the son of Alexandria and Victor Peacock, a salesman and lay preacher. His love for entertaining was kindled at Sunday school and Bible class. As he once said: “I think I learnt to perform from my time at church because it has similarities to the theatre – it too has a stage and an audience.”

He began his television career in the 1960s on ITV Television Playhouse, demonstrating early on his polymath talents. For an episode called, The Lads (1963), Peacock not only played the role of the character Adams but also wrote the song Mrs Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter. A later version of this catchy single reached number one in the US Billboard charts in 1965 and went on to sell 14 million copies worldwide.

Peacock recalled: “Herman’s Hermits were supposed to be the biggest thing in the world then and Mickey Most, the great producer, needed a song to complete their album. I gave them Mrs Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter. The American kids demanded that the song be released as a single and it went on to knock Elvis off the top spot!”

The musical Around The Beatles (1964), directed by Rita Gillespie and produced by Jack Good, capitalised on the Fab Four’s rise to fame. It first aired in May 1964, featuring a Shakespearean-style “play within a play”, in which Peacock took on the character of Quince in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production also brought music from The Vernons Girls for whom Peacock went on to compose several tracks including Be Nice To Him Mama andYou Know What I Mean.

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An accomplished Shakespearean actor, Peacock appeared in a number of BBC productions of the Bard’s works. For example,Titus Andronicus (1985), with Peacock bringing to life the fierce fighter of the title role in this tragedy of revenge. As a New York Times reviewer noted, “Trevor Peacock’s Titus is a grizzled warrior who wouldn’t be out of place in an American western.”

The 1990 Hamlet, in which Peacock played the gravedigger, was a significant international production, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson as the prince. In a similarly star-studded Don Quixote (2000) Peacock took the role of the innkeeper, to great comic effect.

After his early successes in songwriting, Peacock had created a number of full-length musicals including Leaping Ginger (1977), Andy Capp (1982), based on the popular newspaper cartoon strip, and Class K (1985). Each of these was premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, which had remained a mainstay throughout his career since his first performances there as part of the 69 Theatre, its predecessor.

But it was for playing Jim Trott, the parish council member in hugely popular The Vicar of Dibley, that Peacock will remain best known. Fellow star Dawn French paid tribute on social media. Alongside a photograph of the pair, she wrote: “Night Trev. I love you.”

Peacock’s last film outing was in the comedy-drama Quartet (2012), a directorial debut for Dustin Hoffman. Here he played the role of George, a resident at a home for retired professional musicians.

He had latterly retired to the Somerset village of East Coker, where he died of a dementia-related illness, according to his family. He had four children: a son and daughter from his first marriage to Iris Jones and a son and daughter from his marriage to the actor Tilly Tremayne.

Trevor Peacock, actor and songwriter, born 19 May 1931, died 8 March 2021