Vicar of Dibley:Volume 3

In "The Easter Bunny", we see the residents of Dibley planning what they intend to give up for the upcoming period of lent. It makes for many hilarious sacrifices by the group as Geraldine suffers through "Chocolate" withdrawal,poor Hugo (James Fleet), battles with his efforts to curb his "sensual thoughts", Owen (Roger Lloyd-Pack), has to learn to curb his bad language or pay a fine and Frank (John Bluthal) has to learn to be not so pedantic with the parish council minute taking. One of the great elements to this series was the regular locking of horns that took place between the non traditional outspoken Vicar and the village's big landowner stuffy David Horton (Gary Waldhorn). In the "Easter Bunny", the two have many funny clashes after which in a suddenly dramatic scene Dibley looses one of its most memorable residents in Letitia Cropley (Liz Smith), who was famed for her "original" gourmet creations. The conclusion of this special sees Geraldine having to handle Letitia's "special legacy" to her which is to be the mysterious Dibley Easter Bunny unaware that all the others are also recipients of that same legacy. It makes hilarious Easter viewing.

My favourite of the specials is the truly memorable "The Christmas Lunch Incident", where on Christmas Day Geraldine faces the dilemma of being invited by all the well meaning residents to their homes for seperate Christmas lunches. The scenes of Geraldine attempting to fit in just one more Turkey Leg or Christmas Plum Pudding will have you laughing yourself silly as it does me each Christmas when I screen it. This special also offers us the unique opportunity of seeing the family of Geraldine's wacky assistant Alice Tinker, and after viewing them it becomes easy to understand why Alice turned out the way she did! Dawn French is truly delightful in this episode and I always love the way she describes Jesus Christ as "Birthday Boy" when she is trying to find inspiration for her Christmas morning sermon! This episode is a total delight and is firmly entrenched as part of my essential Christmas Viewing. The last of the specials "Engagement" offers a wonderful final conclusion to Alice and Hugo's eccentric on again off again courtship as Geraldine takes charge of the dippy lovers and finally gets them together. While she is great at shooting Cupid's arrow she finds the attentions of another party for her own affections a little less welcome with very funny results.

If you haven't yet experienced this truly delightful British comedy do yourself a big favour and track it down. There were only a small number of episodes in the series and each was unique in its own way and full of great humour. The specials are excellent in that with a 40 minute running time we get to see more of the characters than usual. The Easter and Christmas specials are particular favourites of mine and make great light hearted seasonal viewing. "The Vicar of Dibley", really shows off the true comic genius of Dawn French in a role tailor made for her. Sit back and enjoy the eccentric residents of Dibley in three great specials soon.

This, the third volume in the series, consists of three 40-minute episodes. In "The Easter Bunny," everyone on the parish council gives up something for lent, and the parish video fund gets quite an infusion of cash thanks to someone's inability to stick to his resolution. "The Christmas Lunch Incident" has the vicar accepting a few too many invitations for Christmas lunch with some very funny results. Though all three episodes are hilarious as always, the last one, "Engagement," is particularly so. Hugo, with a little help from the vicar, finally figures out what to do about his attraction to Alice. Meanwhile, the vicar inadvertently finds herself being courted (if one can call it that!) by one of her parishoners.

Those who've enjoyed the first two volumes will not want to miss this one. For those who've yet to experience this delightful series, it really is one of the best comedies around; I, for one, know of none better! Extremely highly recommended!