Vicar of Dibley lockdown specials

I think Harry is referred to at some point - so the use of Grainger, assuming her name was indeed changed, may be a cockup. Speaking of which, in the Radio Times article to launch the series, the Vicar refers to Letitia Cropley doing something in 1999, which was an achievement given she died at Easter 1996. Though I am aware I am picking holes in a humourous article written by a fictional character...

Apparently it was filmed at Shepperton as was the original series so it’s possible it was the old set -I thought it looked fairly green screened though.

I think it's a physical set. The dimensions don't quite match the original, and neither does the wallpaper. The sofa is also pointing in a different direction to how it ever looked in the show, so I think they've built a miniature version of just her living room corner. The depth of field and focus changes are also too precise and real for it to have been green screened from an old picture.

Very nice of them to have gone to that effort with it, and a shame that this is the only kind of revival possible for this show due to so many of the cast having passed, as it could have still worked for one offs and specials.

I enjoyed last night’s lockdown episode more than the previous week’s - the somewhat serious BLM scene didn’t come across as too in-your-face, just a realistic thing a rural vicar may have done. Also a beautiful tribute to Alice, much of which was also French’s tribute to Emma Chambers. I did find it odd that in the BLM scene, Geraldine referred to something Alice told her “a couple of years ago” then went on to say in the tribute that Alice died exactly three years ago. “A couple of years” means two years ago, though often interpreted less literally, but rarely implies over three years ago.

Yes agree with all the above. Timings also slightly off with Alice’s daughter going to Oxford - she was born in the “Winter” ep of the series that was quite clearly set at the turn of the millennium, so would be turning 21 this Christmas. 2 years out perhaps?

On a technical level though, again the old clips looked shocking - that clip of Alice switching on her lights from the wedding episode looked like it might have come from YouTube.

The second episode definitely benefitted from not being confined to a real set - really nice to see the village they used as Dibley again, and looking pretty much exactly the same as when we last saw it!

Again though, whilst half of the cast have died it's strange that Alice is the only one who's also died in the show. Having Owen as the cameraman in the outside piece was odd, as it would be very unlike his character to be completely silently for the entire recording!

Or know how to use a camera.

I haven’t watched these episodes yet, but did come across the Alice/Emma tribute on Twitter. I suppose there’s maybe a discussion about Emma’s death being at a much younger age and somewhat unexpected. Whereas as pointed out Frank, Owen & Letitia and the respective actors are at older age where the unfortunate death of the actors while immensely sad is with regret to be expected. I do agree the pretence that these characters would be alive and well maybe stretching it, but I suppose without doing so the specials are left with just Hugo, the Vicar and David. Has Gary Waldhorn appeared in any specials?

I was wondering that too, he's still alive but at his age he might be shielding or just not wanting to do it.

I did think this weeks mini episodes felt more like a proper episode with them shooting in the village.

On the contrary to what’s been suggested, I think the could very well do new episodes. Hugo could take on the Alice roll quite easily, his father could be quite senile now and take some of the slack from the other older characters (although that might seem like they’re making fun of dementia) and they could bring in some new characters. Some people would probably hate it but I’m sure others would watch in the same way Still Open All Hours worked.

It could possibly work, I suppose, but I don't think it would and wouldn't enjoy it as much as the old ones. It wouldn't be the same as before (which I believe most viewers would see as a bad thing) and would be a fairly big gamble to re-vamp it. It's a shame there aren't any old episodes that were never aired.

BIB It wasn't necessarily her eldest daughter who got into Oxford - it was stated she was a mother of 6 (and of course we saw her brood in a later episode!) so it could quite easily have been a reference to a second or third child.

I disagree with those calling for a return with a new cast. If Emma Chambers was still with us, maybe, but by now you're basically talking about replacing everyone around that committee table and whilst these mini episodes have a certain charm I just don't think it could ever be recreated in full episodes. I think they could potentially spin Geraldine off into a new setting - take her out of Dibley, reboot in a new location where she has to prove herself again (even flip the concept on its head and make her find she's now outdated in a very progressive parish) but even as I type that it feels rather charmless.

Seemed perfectly in character for Owen - I'm guessing you don't remember him filming Alice and Hugo's wedding video.