The Vicar of Dibley ‘wasn’t written for Dawn French’ reveals producer as fans slam lockdown episodes

The Vicar of Dibley without Dawn French would be like tea without milk – but it turns out Dawn almost never accepted the role.

The hit 90s comedy recently returned to the BBC for a series of lockdown specials and producer Peter Bennett-Jones has opened up on some behind the scenes secrets, revealing that Richard Curtis never actually wrote the role of Geraldine Grainger for Dawn.

“It wasn’t written for Dawn but she made it her own,” said Peter.

“Richard wrote it for a forthright comic actress.

“I think he might have even seen three or four different people have a go at it. Dawn got cast and the rest is history as it were.”

Speaking to Huffington Post, Peter revealed that he thought Richard made “the right call” and that Dawn “made it her own.”

“She knows where comedy is – she’s a comic actress really, you can’t really imagine it without her, funnily enough,” he added.

But it seems Dawn wasn’t as easy to sell on the show as they hoped, as she feared her portrayal of a female vicar may seen “pious” coming so soon after the Church of England began to accept female vicars.”

Luckily, Joy Carroll Wallis, one of the first female vicars in the UK, was on hand to help and told Dawn that “vicars can drink and eat chocolate and have a sex life.”

The three ten-minute Christmas episodes have seen Geraldine facing the challenges of 2020, including taking sermons on Zoom.

The show will also feature a Black Lives Matter scene where the bubbly vicar will take a knee in support of the movement.

However, fans weren’t kind about the first episode, with one writing on Twitter: “Still waiting for the bit where I’m supposed to laugh #vicarofdibley That was an abomination. Yet another reason to @DefundBBC.”

A second posted: “I wish I could laugh at it. I have really tried.”

While a third added: “Absolutely fell flat. Disappointingly unfunny.”

Another made reference to the condensed nature of the episode writing: “What on earth was that weird little Vicar of Dibley thing?

“Totally unfunny, and a waste of 10 mins. Whoever thought of that should be sacked immediately.”

The BBC has confirmed to Metro it has received over 100 complaints, but said in a statement: “In The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown, Geraldine shares with her congregation her take on some of the key stories of 2020, including clapping for the NHS, the Black Lives Matter movement, lockdown, and school exams being cancelled.

“She is a much-loved and well-established comic character and will be seen processing the year’s events in her familiar outspoken and high-spirited way.”