# Question about The Vicar of Dibley **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320 "2009-08-13T19:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/21 "2015-08-31T20:32:01Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Why make it about a vicar if they want to write it this way? It just seems like she could have had any profession… Well, if they gave her a different profession, the show’s title wouldn’t make much sense, would it? ---
**Author:** ![FisherKing1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e19adc/32.png) [@FisherKing1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherKing1)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/22 "2015-08-31T20:36:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > …And, it’s not just comedy. > One of the episodes carries are truly poignant message about where the Church’s window-repair funds should go: ["The Vicar of Dibley" The Window & the Weather (TV Episode 1994) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0739938/) I remember that fondly. Many of the episodes did have a deeper meaning. I’ve devoted quite a few years to studying The Vicar of Dibley. I have an embarrassingly large collection of documents. I’ve catalogued the main props used on screen. Well, “used”. I’ve complied a dossier which lists and describes in as much detail as I can provide, the dimensions of every piece of furniture in Geraldine’s house. As well as some Architect-esque sketches of the building. I’m planning to start the same work on Alice’s house too. And then I’ll try to work out the possible dimensions of the farm, given what we know of it. I’ll probably try to put a value on it, taking into account the price of livestock back then. The Christmas lunch also interests me. To date I haven’t been able to work out what EXACTLY was served at each table. Even if I could work it out, I wouldn’t be able to adequately price it without knowing the store where it was purchased. So, I’m afraid that my records there will have to remain incomplete. Which, I admit, upsets me greatly. I’m also afraid that I’ve been unable to locate ANY screen-used items. Nothing in my years of searching has been forthcoming. I’ve contacted every single crew member, and more than a few of the cast, but they haven’t been able to assist me in my search. Still, I’m not that upset by it. For the past few years I’ve watched an episode every day when I wake up, and about five or six before I retire to bed. My documents are extensive; there’s hardly a detail that I’ve missed. I admit that it’s been trying work at times, but I love the show and I’ve been happy to pour financial resources into travelling around the world in search of screen-accurate props. I’ll probably never really stop! The show has infused me with such passion. I know it’s hard to understand, but we’re not really a logical species! Haha… Thanks for reading 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/23 "2015-08-31T20:37:21Z")
> [@choie](#): > > … (And I might add, the TV producer wasn’t even that lovely to explain why Dawn was going so apeshit over him.)… Well, he \*is \*the Twelfth Doctor. Loveliness isn’t the half of it. This show isn’t at the top of my personal rankings of UK-made comedies, but it does have some quite wonderful bits (which have led to my watching many episodes more than once). Any episode featuring Simon McBurney (as the choirmaster) is worth a look, as are those in which various celebrities appear. And if Trevor Peacock’s rendition of his Jim Trott doing the Full Monty doesn’t make you laugh, then you should get a check-up; something’s wrong! ---
**Author:** ![FisherKing1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e19adc/32.png) [@FisherKing1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherKing1)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/24 "2015-08-31T20:44:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, if they gave her a different profession, the show’s title wouldn’t make much sense, would it? “The Social Worker of Dibley” “The Nursery School Teacher of Dibley” “The Sassy Barmaid of Dibley” ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/25 "2015-09-01T00:43:21Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > For some reason everytime I watch The Vicar of Dibley I laugh myself silly. I have no idea why. Her husband Lenny Henry’s show, Chef! is something I find just about equally hysterically hilarious. Again I’m not sure why. Because you have good taste. 🙂 Chef! was excellent. (At least series 1 and 2 were, 3 not so much.) And yes, I see this is a zombie… but there is a reason I’m responding. I just starting watching this series. Prompted by a friend’s recommendation and my husband’s dislike of Dawn French. So it was odd to see a thread about it… I’ve seen the first three episodes? Went to work, and had “Jerusalem” stuck in my head all morning! Weirdest ear worm ever! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/26 "2015-09-01T02:08:14Z")
I lovelovelove this show. I watched it when it first came out and I love it on AcornTV. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/27 "2015-09-01T03:06:41Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > Because you have good taste. 🙂 Chef! was excellent. (At least series 1 and 2 were, 3 not so much.) There were some truly epic rants on that show. > [@](#): > > Let me explain the order of things to you. There’s the aristocracy, the upper class, the middle class, working class, dumb animals, waiters, creeping things, head lice, people who eat packet soup, then you. (Wait a tic, you’re not that Savannah, are you?) For Dawn French fans here, you might want to check out another show of hers called _Murder Most Horrid_. If _Vicar of Dibley_ was too sweet-natured for you, it could be right up your alley. The episode _Overkill_ was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and with a not-insignificant body count. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320/28 "2015-09-01T21:15:23Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I love the series! She doesn’t meet her future husband in the first episode actually, but in the very last season. The show is about a small village that is stagnating until their vicar (an elderly man) dies during a church service one day and is replaced by this incredibly vivacious woman who brings life, laughter, and a newfound appreciation of god to the people who live there. Her social life is not limited by her weight but by the fact that this is a village of about 600 people, most of whom are very eccentric, but she comes to think of them as family. The insults and things are never meant to be serious at all. Think of her being a vicar the same way you think about Ardal O’Hanlon being a priest in Father Ted…yeah, it is her job but it doesn’t stop her from being kind of zany and a bit of a sinner just like everyone else. All of the above. One of my favorite episodes was an early one, in which a television crew was filming a story about the church. So they were there at the service, during which tthe vicar speaks about some of the reasons she felt called to the clergy… Also I liked the funny sequence in which people were auditioning for a choir, and one supporting character turned out to have a truly fine tenor voice, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-vicar-of-dibley/506320.md?page=1)