EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS

The chronology for Vicar of Dibley is as follows:

Series 1
1996 Easter Special
1996 Christmas Special
1997 Christmas Special
Series 2
Series 3
2004 Christmas Special
2005 New Years Special
2006 Christmas Special (2 part)
Vicar of Dibley Story (documentary)

**By the nature of the productions being spread out and sporadic, this series presents a bit of a challenge. Below are episode descriptions to match with the chronology above.    

SERIES 1
1. ARRIVAL - The Dibley Parish Council have requested that the Bishop provide them a new Vicar after the death of the nonagenarian Percy Pottle. However, when the new Vicar turns up on the doorstep of Parish Council Chairman, David Horton, he is astounded to find that their new man is a woman: Geraldine! (1)

2. SONGS OF PRAISE - The BBC religious series, Songs of Praise, sends a production team to Dibley to tape one of their programs. Geraldine and David have misgivings about this, but Gerry (as she likes to be called) develops a crush on producer, Tristan, while David casts his eye on production assistant, Ruth. (2)

3.COMMUNITY SPIRIT - Geraldine takes on the organization of the annual Autumn Fair and promises to have a featured guest more celebrated than last year's event. Alice, the Verger, tells Geraldine that her cousin is Reg Dwight. And everyone knows that Elton John's real name is…. (3)

4.WINDOW - Dibley is hit by a hurricane, and the fierce storm blows out the stained glass window of St. Barnabas church. The cost of a new window will be at least £11,000, but Geraldine is confident that she can raise this amount from among David's wealthy contacts. (4)

5. ELECTION - David has been the Councillor in a safe Tory seat for a number of years. But when Geraldine becomes concerned that not enough has been done for his constituency, David finds he now has a village that is prepared to vote for the Vicar. (5)

6. ANIMALS- Geraldine plans to hold a special service of blessing in St. Barnabas Church for all the animals of the village. As the day approaches she becomes concerned. Will all the animals be properly house trained while in church? Moreover, will any of them try to eat one of the others? (6)

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1996 EASTER SPECIAL - With the arrival of Lent, the parishioners are thinking what they may give up in preparation for Easter. Mrs. Cropley makes the difficult decision to forgo lard and fishpaste pancakes. For Geraldine, however, her true sacrifice is to give up her beloved chocolate. (7)

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1996 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - (A.K.A. CHRISTMAS LUNCH INCIDENT) - Christmas is coming in Dibley and Geraldine is having problems, not only with her sermon, but also with multiple invitations to Christmas lunch from the parishioners. First there is dinner with Jim and Frank, then dinner with David and Hugo, then dinner with Alice and her family? Surely three dinners in one day is all one can expect of a girl, right? (8)

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1997 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Romance is in the air and Geraldine turns Cupid as she attempts to bring together the desperately-shy Alice, and the even more desperately-shy Hugo. It's an operation that makes the Normandy Landings seem simple. (9)

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SERIES 2
1 . DIBLEY LIVE- Geraldine sets up Radio Dibley in a bid to bring the community closer together. However it should prove interesting as Hugo only has two records for which to DJ, and Alice is busy trying to impress David enough to make him think her a worthy wife for Hugo. (10)

2. CELEBRITY VICAR - Geraldine finds herself in glare of publicity when articles appear in the press about Dibley's female Vicar. When Geraldine is asked to be Terry Wogan's guest on BBC Radio 2's Pause For Thought, she is suddenly in the exalted position of being more famous than Sister Wendy. But fame carries a price and will Geraldine, with her dark glasses and mulberry Filofax, alienate her parishioners? (11)

3. LOVE AND MARRIAGE - Geraldine prepares Alice and Hugo's wedding day - there's Alice's dress to discuss, a best man to sort out, and a bachelorette party to be had! Just when everything seems fine, Alice reveals a hitch that might just be the biggest hitch in the history of hitches. And Geraldine's fallen hopelessly in love - but will her affections be reciprocated? (12)

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SERIES 3
1. AUTUMN - David's brother Simon returns to Dibley. But is he back to light up Geraldine's ife - or break her heart? Alice has put on four pounds in the last month and is worried her husband will think she's fat. (13)

2. WINTER - Alice solves the problem of the Christmas show by proposing that she and Hugo play Mary and Joseph in a Nativity play. (14)

3. SPRING - The Bishop of Mulberry is to christen Alice and Hugo's baby, and David is amazed to find that he is in agreement with Geraldine. (15)

4. SUMMER - A scorching hot summer leads to a severe water shortage in Dibley. When the water company announces plans to put a reservoir in the village, Geraldine decides it's time to take drastic action. (16)

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2004 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - It is now 10 years since Geraldine became the first female vicar of England’s most eccentric parish, and everyone in Dibley is determined to celebrate her anniversary. As usual, nothing goes quite as planned.The Christmas carol-writing competition produces some of the worst rhyming couplets ever written, whilst Geraldine manages to head off the plan to have a stripper at the Christmas Eve cocktail party. A delicious chocolate gift ends in disaster; there are complications when Geraldine receives an unexpected visit from supermodel Rachel Hunter. (17)

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2005 NEW YEARS SPECIAL - It is the start of 2005 and Geraldine is very keen to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Live Aid – something the villagers are not initially over-enthusiastic about. Finally, she convinces them all to write to the Prime Minister – only to find out that all but one think Margaret Thatcher is still in charge of the country. Geraldine is less keen to celebrate her landmark 40th birthday – in fact, she doesn’t want it mentioned at all. Naturally, the Church Committee disagrees and sets out to make it a birthday to remember. (18)

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2006 CHRISTMAS SPECIALS (2 x 55')
1. The Handsome Stranger
The chocoholic vicar decides to bring some culture to England’s most eccentric parish by forming a book club – the only downside being that it involves the likes of foul-mouthed, but lovable Owen Newitt actually reading a book. Somewhat surprisingly, the vicar’s none-too-bright best friend, the wonderfully dippy Alice, has managed to decipher the clues in The Da Vinci Code and has come to the conclusion that she is, in fact, the last living descendant of Jesus Christ. Geraldine, in the meantime, is quite frankly fed up with ‘townies’ descending upon Dibley and buying weekend cottages – that is, until she meets one particularly charming newcomer... After presiding over her 100th marriage and despairing of ever finding love, romance is in the air and it looks as though the handsome accountant Harry Kennedy could finally be the one to whisk the vicar down the aisle. But, as always, the festive season in Dibley does not run smoothly and Geraldine almost ruins things by mistaking Harry’s glamorous blonde sister Rosie for a love rival. (19)

2. The Vicar In White
Could charming, handsome Harry be Mr Right? Or is he Mr How Wrong Can You Be? When Harry asked Geraldine to marry him she couldn’t say yes quickly enough. Naturally, things don’t quite go according to plan. The vicar presiding over the wedding ceremony seems a little too fond of Geraldine and the villagers seem determined to take over all the preparations for the big day. With Alice keen on a Dr Who theme for the nuptuals, and the threat of the video being shot in the style of Saving Private Ryan, the festive season in Dibley is, as ever, a truly unique ecclesiastical experience – and a charming tale of love, confusion, unrequited love and utter chaos with a very happy ending indeed. (20)

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