CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 10/26/07

Holy Entertaining

by jason davis

The Vicar of Dibley (The Immaculate Collection)

Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer

Two years after the Church of England ordained the first women priests, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral) brought a wisecracking woman vicar to the sleepy village of Dibley and created a charming comedy with a strong—but not scathing—undercurrent of social commentary.  The Reverend Geraldine Granger (Dawn French) serves as an anchor of sanity in a village inhabited by no shortage of eccentric characters, including perverse farmer Owen Newett (Roger Lloyd-Pack), elderly lothario Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock), terminally dull Frank Pickle (John Bluthal), batty Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers), the astonishingly dense Hugo Horton (James Fleet), and his ultra-conservative millionaire father, David (Gary Waldhorn), who frequently locks horns with his vicar.  Never mean spirited, but always socially conscious, Curtis and collaborator Paul Mayhew-Archer's scripts provide a rich, character-driven stories that carry the series across three consecutive seasons and over a decade of Comic Relief and Christmas specials that function as annual reunions for the characters and their audience.  Several featurettes look behind the scenes of the series, as well as at women in the British clergy, and Curtis is on hand to explain his influences and process along the way.

The Vicar of Dibley (The Immaculate Collection)
BBC Video
Not rated; 750 min.
$99.98

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Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

The Vicar of Dibley (The Immaculate Collection) courtesy BBC Video

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