Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)After a several-year hiatus, the creative team and, remarkably enough, the whole original cast, return to Dibley, the little town that never says die. Except it's approaching dead.
The popularity of this show was originally based on its essentially upbeat, positive attitude and genial self-deprecation at a time when many sitcoms were descending into thirty-minute volleys of insults. So why is so much of the humor in these two episodes based on David slapping down Alice? Is it really funny that he fantasizes about his daughter-in-law's death? Are we amused to see Geraldine drunk in the pulpit, snarking at parishoners in the pews? Is the show really improved by personality clashes that amount to little more than volleys of darts back and forth between the principals?
There are some good concepts underlying the episodes. For example, in the Christmas episode, the village gets the idea in their heads that Geraldine is homosexual. Wow, what a great and timely concept! Just imagine the wacky hilarity as a small English village comes to grips with a lesbian in the pulpit! Go on, just imagine it! Are you imagining it? Good for you, because you've put more effort into the idea than the creative team did. They throw this sharp, fertile idea out, then sweep it aside almost as soon as it finds play.
These episodes aren't a total wash. The New Year's episode is particularly touching, comprising as it does an appeal to the G8 leaders to stop fiddling while Rome burns and do something about global poverty. Though perhaps a touch maudlin, this episode provides an appropriate extension of the characters into a real issue that Christians have failed to come to grips with. This is a very, very good use of the characters and their environment.
The special features are also worth watching. Of the content on the DVD, perhaps the best is a short sketch of the show done for Comic Relief. Though only fifteen minutes long, it's a good capsule of the characters, their conflicts, and the show's potential for social good and for touching interactions. This is why we fell in love with the series in the first place. There's also a gag reel, Dibley Defrocked. We get to see the actors riff on their lines, improvise short scenes in character, and mug for the camera. And it's all surprisingly sharp and witty. Perhaps if the creative team had trusted their actors more, they might have had a pair of episodes worthy of the lingering memory of the original series.
This DVD is for fans of the original series only. Newbies will find it slow, disjointed, and wearing; it depends too heavily on our memory of the characters and their quirks more than on actually developing new insights. Those already invested in the show will find these episodes fairly trying, but there's enough to like, and it has its high points. Just don't confuse this with the original show, or you'll only be disappointed.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Vicar of Dibley - 10th Anniversary Specials
The holidays are usually an eventful time for the eccentric residents of Dibley and their chocoholic female vicar, Geraldine. This year proves to be no exception. Alice gets "the wrong end of a very, very long stick" when she spots a supermodel in her undies in the vicarage. It isn't long before the entire village believes that Gerry is not only one of the first female vicars in England, but also one of the first lesbian vicars! In the New Years special, Gerry is determined to mark the 20th anniversary of Live Aid, but the villagers are determined to give her a birthday present she'll never forget - a blind date with one of them! DVD Features:Biographies:Cast biosOther:2005 Comic Relief Sketch "Antiques Roadshow" Outtakes:"Dibley Defrocked": A hilarious compilation of behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes
Click here for more information about The Vicar of Dibley - 10th Anniversary Specials
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