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Cornwall celebrity Dawn French is set to feature on a brand new stamp collection from Royal Mail celebrating the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. The beloved series starred the comedian, who has lived in our county for two decades, and ran on the BBC from November 1994 to January 2007.
Royal Mail has today (Thursday) revealed images of 12 stamps being issued to celebrate the award-winning comedy series. The series was set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley.
Following the 1993 changes in the Church of England to permit the ordination of women, the series portrayed a female vicar who had been assigned to the church in the village. It starred Dawn in the titular role of the down-to-earth, witty and clever vicar, Geraldine Granger.
The character was specially created for her by writers Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer. She was surrounded by a who’s who of seasoned TV professionals – Only Fools and Horses legend Roger Lloyd-Pack as fearsome farmer Owen; Emma Chambers as dotty verger Alice; floppy-fringed Four Weddings and a Funeral star James Fleet as the hapless Hugo; and TV veteran Gary Waldhorn as his domineering, aristocratic father, David.
It is among the most successful British programmes, receiving multiple British Comedy Awards, an International Emmy and was a multiple British Academy Television Awards nominee. A further four stamps presented in a miniature sheet, shows a Dibley Parish Council meeting.
David Gold, director of external affairs and policy for the Royal Mail said: “The superb writing and the warmth and idiosyncrasies of its characters made The Vicar of Dibley one of the most loved TV comedies of all time. We celebrate the series with new stamps revisiting some of the show’s classic moments.”
The Vicar of Dibley introduced audiences to a new kind of priest – Geraldine Granger, the chocolate-eating, plain-spoken but warm-hearted new vicar who initially horrifies her parishioners in the sleepy English village of Dibley. But even the members of the parish council – including pompous landowner David, his perky son Hugo, straight-talking farmer Owen and verbally-challenged eccentric Jim – soon warm to Geraldine, thanks to her innate personal charm, forgiving nature and snappy way with a one-liner.
Indeed, the only person her wit doesn’t work on is Alice, the scatterbrained verger who becomes Geraldine’s best friend despite constantly misunderstanding her jokes. The Vicar of Dibley ran for three series with multiple festive specials and Comic Relief shorts.
In 2020, The Vicar of Dibley was named Britain’s third-favourite sitcom of all time in a BBC poll. The stamps, and a range of collectible products, are available to pre-order from today (January 9) at www.royalmail.com/vicarofdibley and by telephone on 03457 641 641. A
Presentation Pack including all 12 stamps is priced at £20.10. The stamps go on general sale from January 14.
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