The Vicar of Dibley-Immaculate Collection (1994) (NTSC)

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    The video quality is variable and disappointingly in NTSC.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Vicar of Dibley-Complete First Series (1994) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	1994
Running Time	175:18 (Case: 174)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Dewi Humphreys
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Dawn French Gary Waldhorn James Fleet Emma Chambers Liz Smith John Bluthal Trevor Peacock Roger Lloyd Pack
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Howard Goodall

    There is never any doubt that you are watching a product of British television. The characters are so believable, the quality is usually very obvious and the comedy is actually funny. So The Vicar Of Dibley can almost be classified as the quintessential British television comedy. After all, would America actually cast a fuller figured woman as the lead in a prime time series? Not on your life. Could you imagine them casting the verger with some slightly goofy looking woman? Yeah, right. It does not matter where you look in The Vicar Of Dibley, you will find the obvious hands of quality British television programming. Superbly cast, well written and brilliantly performed, there is much that can be admired in The Vicar Of Dibley.

    The village of Dibley is the epitome of British conservatism (if a tad eccentric), so when the local priest, the Reverend Pottle (aged 102) carks it, the parish council were sort of expecting to get a boringly traditional replacement at St Barnabas' Church - if one a little younger. What they did not expect was "a babe with a bob and a magnificent bosom" - the Reverend Geraldine Boadicea Granger (Dawn French). Cue the inevitable conflicts as the head of the parish council, noted for his iron handed rule over the village, David Horton (Gary Waldhorn), takes an instant dislike to the idea and seeks to have the new Reverend removed from the parish. The other members of the parish council - Hugo Horton (James Fleet), Letitia Cropley (Liz Smith), Frank Pickle (John Bluthal), Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) and Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack) - are not quite so opposed to the idea. So Gerry has some task ahead to convince David Horton - a task not made any easier by the fact that she is blessed with Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers) as her verger - a more vacuous country bumpkin there has never been.

    These eight characters make up the vast bulk of the show and all have their eccentricities. It is those eccentricities that make the whole thing work so well and whilst the umpteenth viewing might not quite have the same impact as the very first, it cannot be denied that the comedy can still draw a smile and the occasional laugh. This is good comedy that only the British seem to be able to make. Enjoy.

    The six episodes making up the first series are:

• Arrival (28:34) - The wham, bam introduction to the series where we garner all the essentials: the death of the Reverend Pottle, the introduction of the main characters and the arrival of the Reverend Geraldine Granger. We also get the infamous introductory quote.
• Songs Of Praise (29:16) - Whilst the local parish head might not be happy with the new reverend, her arrival has certainly not escaped the national media. Accordingly, the BBC wish to film an episode of their show Songs Of Praise at the village church. The new rev is not exactly thrilled with the idea, preferring to leave television to "Felicity Kendal and other members of the tiny bottom club", but the rest of the parish council seem to be enamoured with the idea. Geraldine too sees the better side of the idea when she meets the producer of the show, whilst David Horton has similar ideas when he sees the camerawomen...
• Community Spirit (29:03) - The village Autumn Fayre is not the greatest money making venture ever held and so Geraldine proposes to make a heck of a lot more by finding a huge star to open it. Obviously easier said than done and when just about everything has fallen down around her ankles, and she might have to go grovelling back to David Horton, Alice makes a comment which might be the salvation for Geraldine. Special guest appearance by our own Kylie Minogue.
• The Weather And The Window (29:37) - A big storm, although debatably not as big as the Big Storm according to members of the parish council, has seen the stained glass window of St Barnabas' Church smashed by a large tree. Obviously it needs to be replaced, but there are two problems. Eleven thousand pounds is not perhaps the biggest of these, as no one seems to really remember what was actually depicted on the window... The money problem might be more easily solved than the contents of the window.
• Election (29:24) - Local elections are upon the village once again and reigning incumbent and general political non-entity David Horton sees no great problem in retaining his seat as he always has. He, however, has forgotten one thing - he might not like the new rev but everyone else does, and they have managed to convince Geraldine to run. Some political horse trading appears on the cards...
• Animals (29:24) - In her enthusiastic but occasionally unthought-out way, Geraldine has proposed a service for the animals at St Barnabas'. She thinks it is a terrific idea, David does not. David's views seem to be prevailing when one of the national tabloids gets wind of the service and has the church splashed all over the newspaper in a rather derogatory way. Geraldine starts to have second thoughts but will she survive the ordeal?

Video

    Rather unusually for a release from BBC Video through Roadshow Home Entertainment, this is an NTSC formatted DVD. Accordingly, you will need to have a player and/or display device capable of handling the NTSC signal. It would seem that despite there being a PAL release of the series in Region 2, the rights are not owned by the BBC and so Roadshow have sourced the NTSC master being used for the Region 1 release due out at about the same time as the Region 4 release.

    Since the show was made for television, the presentation is Full Frame (1.33:1) and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

    After watching the first ten seconds of the opening credits of the first episode, I was starting to wonder what I had let myself in for. The image had a ghastly, overexposed look that had a very metallic edge to it, aliasing quite readily and with poor definition. Then I remember that this was what the VHS tapes looked like (subsequently confirmed by watching them again) and I returned to the task at hand. It has to be said that visually this is not a great looking series overall. Aside from the rather garish, overexposed look to the opening credits, the episodes themselves are prone to too much light that washes out a lot of the detail in the transfer. However, given the fact that these problems are also seen on the VHS tapes, there is some evidence to suggest the problem is source related rather than mastering related.

    The main difference from the VHS tapes, however, is the fact that the very indistinct look on tape has been replaced with something a lot sharper and better defined. It is still nothing approaching real quality but the result is certainly much more watchable. Ideally, the transfer would be a bit sharper and the detail would stand out a little more. There is a somewhat grainy look to the transfer but nothing really distracting. Shadow detail is not the greatest but in line with the average nature of the transfer in general. There is a distinct aura around faces most of the time during the transfer.

    The colours are nothing more than average overall. They are not well defined, with the need for a heck of a lot more solidity and consistency. Oversaturation is something of an issue during the third episode on the DVD, especially around 26:01. Blacks are well short of depth and really come over more as dark greys. Colour bleed is an occasional problem but is probably more source related than anything else.

    The soft definition means that there is at times a loss of resolution on camera movements, but this could hardly be classified as an MPEG problem. Aliasing is rife through the transfer but mainly of the very minor type - most obvious is aliasing in characters' shoulders such as at 9:15 in Episode 4. Otherwise, there is little in the way of film-to-video artefacts. There are no obvious film artefacts in the transfer.

    This is a Dual Layer formatted DVD with three episodes mastered on each layer.

    There are no subtitles on the DVD, which is rather disappointing for the hearing impaired.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is just the one soundtrack on the DVD, being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

    The soundtrack does not have much to do, just presenting the dialogue clearly. It does this well and you can understand everything quite easily. There are no apparent audio sync issues with the transfer.

    The original music for the series comes from Howard Goodall. Pretty much on a par with what we expect from television series, especially comedy series. In other words, nothing really exciting.

    There is nothing much to say about the soundtrack. It is clean, clear and very functional.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Nothing at all.

Menu

    A bit of audio and animation is all that rises this above ignorable.

    The equivalent Region 1 DVD is due for release on 7th October and appears to be the same as the Region 4 release. The Region 2 (UK) release apparently includes the additional special episode "The Christmas Lunch Incident" as an extra. With this additional inclusion, the balance is well tipped in favour of that release.

    The presentation on DVD is not the best that I have ever seen, even for modern television series. The NTSC formatting is surprising and a tad disappointing given that a PAL master is by all accounts available. Still, ignoring all this, the show is well worth suffering the problems for. Almost quintessential British television comedy, The Vicar Of Dibley is an enjoyable romp through conservative English traditions.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Vicar of Dibley-Complete Second Series (1998) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1998
Running Time	210:19
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gareth Carrivick John Howard Davies Dewi Humphreys
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Dawn French Gary Waldhorn Emma Chambers James Fleet John Bluthal Roger Lloyd-Pack Trevor Peacock
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Howard Goodall

    Yes folks, the babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom is back to inflict her own peculiar brand of eccentricity upon the poor, dimwitted and even more eccentric parishioners of the village of Dibley. Be prepared to laugh - very loudly!

    It has been a little while since I had the chance to sit down and watch some decent comedy, whether on television or DVD. Thinking back over the last six months or so, about the only comedy I have managed to catch, aside from the stupendous Futurama, has been of British origin. And not even Futurama had me laughing out loud as much as this collection of work did. That alone makes The Vicar Of Dibley a rare beast indeed, as by nature I am not a person who laughs out loud and the fact that even after repeated viewings the reaction is thus is quite astounding. The obvious British influence can be seen throughout the show: despite the rather eccentric characters, they actually are rather believable and very reminiscent of the sort of mix of people that you can actually find in small villages in England. Superbly cast, well written and brilliantly performed, there is much that can be admired and enjoyed in The Vicar Of Dibley.

    Series 2 (and the two specials) sees the return of all our old friends from the village of Dibley, a bastion of British conservatism and eccentricity. The Reverend Geraldine Boadicea Granger (Dawn French) continues her religious associations with chocolate, vacuous vergers and, rather occasionally, the church itself. Nothing much changes in the village of Dibley so we still have the iron handed David Horton (Gary Waldhorn) ruling the roost, his somewhat dimwitted son Hugo Horton (James Fleet) trying to come to grips with life, Frank Pickle (John Bluthal) doing a fine impression of the most boring man in Britain, Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) trying his best to overcome the word "no" and Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack), the man with some desires. Naturally we cannot forget the most vacuous verger in Britain, the intellectually challenged (or is that anencephalic?) Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers). Well, there is one change - the culinary-challenged Letitia Cropley (Liz Smith) only makes an appearance in the Easter special.

    These are the characters that make up the show and parade their eccentricities with gay abandon. It is those eccentricities that make the whole thing work so well and the umpteenth viewing still is as hilarious as the first. This is good comedy that only the British seem to be able to make. Enjoy.

    It should be noted that the Vicar Of Dibley is an unusual animal in the world of episodic television in that there are gaps between the various series and there are not too many episodes in a series. In this instance, Series Two comprises three episodes broadcast in 1998, four years after Series One. That gap was filled by the specials that are also included on this DVD. The DVD starts with the three specials before offering up the three episodes making up the second series:

• The Easter Bunny (38:26) - With the rapid approach of Lent, amongst the suggestions being discussed at the parish council meeting are a bid to host the Olympics and, at the instigation of the Vicar, suggestions as to what each person can give up for the holy period. The penalty is a Lent Box, the proceeds of which will be used to set up a video club. Well, Owen is going to give up swearing, Jim the stuttering, Hugo the... Well best not give too much away. So what is the Rev going to give up? It also turns out that the village of Dibley believes in the Easter Bunny - a mystery person from the village undertaking the role. However, due to a small hitch, the Easter Bunny population has exploded this year.
• The Christmas Lunch Incident (43:59) - It's that time of year again and with the cordiality amongst the parish council members at an all time high, the Rev gets an invite to Christmas lunch from Jim and Frank, which she naturally accepts. Trouble is she then gets one from David, which she quite naturally accepts. To round out the day, she also finds herself invited to the Tinker's Christmas lunch even though not actually asked - since Alice knew that the Rev would not say no. So just exactly how is Geraldine to cope with three Christmas lunches in the Dibley tradition - BIG. Sixteen vegetables, huge starters and Christmas pud the size of that magnificent bosom. And then there is the critical nature of the Christmas sermon to be overcome. Stuff it up and she loses the parishioners for the next year.
• Engagement (40:58) - Hugo and Alice have known each other for the better part of their lives. For the most recent decade the impacts of love have been fairly obvious to just about all but the most unobservant - namely David. Despite the longing looks, they have never consummated the love - they have never kissed. After so long, Geraldine has decided enough is enough and swings into cupid mode with all the enthusiasm of ... well plenty of enthusiasm. Patience is however not high on the agenda and so when the two are assembled and need a push, it's a little more like a hefty bloody push.
• Dibley Live (28:49) - The Rev has come up with another cracker of an idea - trying to bring the thriving metropolis of Dibley closer together, she has arranged a special week long licence to operate a radio station. So exactly what do the inhabitants of the metropolis do for a week of radio? Well, how about a call-in show where David manages to divulge his personal thoughts. Or Hugo's rock and roll show with a play list numbering not anywhere near the hundreds of songs. What about the late night turn of Frank where he manages to disclose some life secrets - but no one is listening. The highlight of the week though is the attempt to prove to David that his future daughter-in-law is not the dunce that everyone says she is - most especially David. So the big village quiz is between David, winner for the past twenty eight years or something, and Alice.
• Celebrity Vicar (28:54) - When The Times writes an article on the female vicar of Dibley parish (still a rarity of the times), Geraldine suddenly finds herself taking a telephone call to appear on a radio programme. So successful was she that she gets mistaken for Alison Moyet and gets plenty more offers to indulge the media spotlight. However, her infatuation with the life of the famous comes to a grinding halt when one supposed article on her turns into several articles on various inhabitants of the village.
• Love and Marriage (29:13) - The happy day of the nuptials of Alice Tinker and Hugo Horton is rapidly approaching and so all the essentials are being attended to. Things like the wedding dress (featuring some unusual themes), the bridesmaids (also featuring something unusual), the hen's night (possibly the least exciting ever), David's rather handsome long lost brother (Geraldine has noticed) and a phone call from the bishop offering Geraldine a new position. Is the most eagerly awaited marriage in the recent history of the village going to be Geraldine's swan song?

    Note that the slick for the DVD is incorrect in listing Engagement as an episode of Series Two - it is in fact a special first broadcast in the UK in December, 1997, with the actual Series Two being broadcast in January, 1998.

Video

    Once again, we have the unusual situation of a BBC Video release through Roadshow Home Entertainment being an NTSC formatted DVD. Accordingly, you will need to have a player and/or display device capable of handling the NTSC signal. There is of course a PAL release of the series in Region 2, but the rights are not owned by the BBC and so Roadshow have apparently sourced the NTSC master being used for the Region 1 release.

    Since the show was made for television, the presentation is Full Frame (1.33:1) and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The quality of the transfer is somewhat better than the previous release, particularly as the opening credits for each episode are not as overexposed and metallic looking. The washing out of detail due to excess light is also less of an issue here. Otherwise, this is not too shabby a transfer, with quite reasonable sharpness, fairly reasonable detail and a fairly clear transfer with little in the way of grain. Sure it would have been nice if it had been a little sharper and more detailed, but I am certainly not complaining about the general standard here. Shadow detail is quite decent and never really creates an issue.

    The colours are slightly better than the first series too, quite well saturated and fairly consistent. There are no problems with oversaturation. Skin tones are pretty well handled overall, and this is certainly a more natural looking effort overall. This time round there are no problems with colour bleed.

    There are no obvious MPEG artefacts in the transfer, and in general there is not much in the way of film-to-video artefacts. The only real issues are with some cross colouration, mostly in fine lined jackets such as at 1:16 in Dibley Live and 2:26 and 17:51 in Love and Marriage. There are no obvious film artefacts in the transfer.

    This is presumably a Dual Layer formatted DVD so there is no apparent layer change to be negotiated..

    There are no subtitles on the DVD, which is rather disappointing for the hearing impaired.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is just the one soundtrack on the DVD being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

    The dialogue comes up very well in the soundtrack and is generally easy to understand. There are no apparent audio sync issues with the transfer.

    The original music for the series comes from Howard Goodall. Since it is very similar to what we heard in Series One, there really is not much to say about the music.

    Equally, there is nothing much to say about the soundtrack. It is clean, clear and functional.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Nothing at all.

Menu

    A bit of audio and animation enhancement at least lifts it above being totally bland.

    The equivalent Region 1 DVD was released last year and appears to be the same as the Region 4 release.

    This time round the presentation on DVD is somewhat better than for Series One. Whilst the NTSC formatting is still a little surprising and a tad disappointing given that a PAL master is by all accounts available, still, ignoring all this, the show is well worth suffering the problems for. Almost quintessential British television comedy, The Vicar Of Dibley - Series 2 is one of the best laughs I have had for ages. Well worth getting hold of this DVD.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Vicar of Dibley-Complete Third Series (1998) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Ballykissdibley Featurette-Behind The Scenes Teaser For 1999 Red Nose Day Featurette-1999 Red Nose Special Featurette-The Real Vicars Of Dibley Biographies-Cast & Crew Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	1998
Running Time	158:43 (Case: 230)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gareth Carrivick John Howard Davies Dewi Humphreys
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Dawn French Gary Waldhorn Emma Chambers James Fleet John Bluthal Roger Lloyd-Pack Trevor Peacock
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Howard Goodall

'We've been playing a fair bit of hide the purple parsnip' Alice Horton nee Tinker

    This is one of the great English comedy series, along with shows like Black Adder, Mr Bean and Fawlty Towers. Leaving aside Fawlty Towers, the others all have something in common besides being English. Richard Curtis was involved with writing all of them. He is definitely one of the greatest comedy writers ever to hail from the British Isles. Besides those mentioned above he also wrote for Not the Nine O'Clock News and Spitting Image and wrote both Bridget Jones films, Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings & a Funeral. What a great set of work!

    The Vicar of Dibley is set in the small village of Dibley in rural England and features the weird and amusing inhabitants of the village. The main character is the village Vicar, Geraldine Grainger (Dawn French), who is 'a babe, with a bob and a magnificent bosom'. In Series 1 she arrived in this small village as their new Vicar, much to the consternation of the villagers, as they were expecting a man. However, over the first two series she was accepted as the vicar and has become a very popular member of the community, especially with some of the menfolk. The other villagers who appear regularly in this series are:

• David Horton (Gary Waldhorn) - The local rich landowner who also runs the town council. He is stuffy, arrogant and a snob. He also shows his better side during this series.
• Hugo Horton (James Fleet) - David's dim-witted son who has recently married Alice.
• Alice Horton nee Tinker (Emma Chambers) - The verger of the church who married Hugo at the end of the previous series.
• Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) - A sex obsessed and mad old villager. Famous for the quote at the end of this review.
• Frank Pickle (John Bluthal) - A gay and very boring old villager.
• Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack) - A sex obsessed and borderline psychotic farmer.

    The show is very, very funny with lots of great one-liners and humorous situations, and like many of the great English comedies they took their time to ensure the produced shows were of the highest possible quality. The same is true of the Four seasons of Black Adder and Fawlty Towers. This series arrived on British television nearly two years after the previous one, at the end of 1999.

    This disc includes all 4 episodes in this series, each of approximately 40 minutes duration, which was longer than the previous series. Each episode includes a joke after the final credits, told by Geraldine and misunderstood by Alice. The episodes are:

1. Autumn (39:54) - Alice & Hugo return home from their Honeymoon much later than expected. David's brother, Simon is coming to visit and Geraldine is very excited about that prospect. Alice & Hugo announce big news. This is an extremely funny episode and probably the best of this series.
2. Winter (40:01) - The village are planning their Christmas show but find it difficult to come up with a good idea for it. After they decide, they hold some very amusing auditions. Alice & Hugo play Mary & Joseph but they get a lot more than they bargained for during the play. This is a good episode but the only one of the series which is not excellent.
3. Spring (39:28) - Geraldine wants to starts a crèche in the vestry. Preparations are underway for (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) the christening of Alice & Hugo's baby. Geraldine reveals her real first name and David begins to have feelings for her. A special guest is in this episode - (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) Sean Bean . Another excellent episode and very, very funny.
4. Summer (39:20) - There is no water supply and none of the villagers can shower or bathe. The decide to build a millennium statue in the village but can't decide who the subject should be. The Water Board want to take a radical solution to the water problem and the villagers protest by chaining themselves to the church. Another classic episode.

    At this stage no further series of The Vicar of Dibley have been made although there have been some more specials made quite recently, so we can keep our fingers crossed.

    One of the great English comedies which should be in the collection of any fan of the genre.

'No, No, No, No, No...Yes'

Video

    The video quality is poor.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio. It is very disappointing that this DVD is presented in NTSC format considering that it is a television production originating from a PAL country. All three seasons of this show have been formatted in this way and it seems to be an issue with rights. The discs issued here have been in a similar format to those released in Region 1.

    The picture was not particularly sharp or clear, and the clarity was also badly affected by various artefacts. I did not notice any low level noise. The shadow detail was reasonable.

    The colour was not good and the whole show seemed a little overexposed and some colours, especially bright ones, were oversaturated. Additionally there was significant colour bleeding, especially whites and faces. David's bald head seemed to have a permanent halo.

    Artefacts were also significant, especially edge enhancement such as at 0:50 in Episode 1 and then continuously. Sometimes the edge enhancement partially covered the colour bleeding mentioned above so that you had a black ring of edge enhancement followed by a halo of colour. Additionally there was some grain and aliasing especially noticeable during the credit sequence and a jacket in Episode 3. Last but not least there was significant macro-blocking in large walls or other expanses of colour. This is visible at 26:40 and 28:40 in Episode 1 and many other places.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is fine.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync, which is of course critical in a comedy show.

    The music by Howard Goodall does its job but doesn't stand out. The theme song is sung by a real church choir and was originally written for a hymn.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included music, dialogue from the show and an intro. It allowed for episode or scene selection or playing all.

Ballykissdibley (11:36)

    This is a special made in 1997 which features the lead character from the show Ballykissangel, Father Peter Clifford, as he visits Dibley on a priest exchange program. Quite funny but too short. Features even worse video quality than the main program.

Behind the Scenes teaser from 1999 Red Nose Day (4:12)

    A short promo for the following special feature, which was obviously shown on the same channel to promote the special.

1999 Red Nose Day Special (13:44)

    Another short special from 1999 made for charity. A film company wants to film in Dibley and when Geraldine finds out Johnny Depp is involved she throws a party to welcome them to the village. Many mystery guests turn up at her party including (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) Fergie. Funny stuff and a good addition.

The Real Vicars of Dibley (28:43)

    This is a very worthwhile extra which is a documentary about Vicars who are outside the norm, focusing mostly on female Vicars including one who Geraldine's character was based on. Also includes vicars who are in motorcycle clubs and ones who stage sit-ins on their church roof. Includes snippets from the show (in much better video quality than the shows are presented) and interviews with the writer, Richard Curtis, and various cast members. Good stuff!

Cast Bios

    Text biographies for Dawn French, Gary Waldhorn, James Fleet, Emma Chambers, Trevor Peacock, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Liz Smith (who does not appear in this series) and writers Richard Curtis, Paul Mayhew-Archer & Kit Hesketh-Harvey. Interestingly, the menu includes a choice for someone called Roger Bluthal who does not exist. Luckily, choosing Roger Bluthal takes you to the biography of John Bluthal, who does exist and is on the show.

Photo Gallery

    A gallery of stills mostly from the shows which includes approximately 35 photos.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• All the extras

    On this basis the Region 4 version of the disc is the winner. Season 3 does not seem to be currently available in Region 2, as far as I can tell.

    The video quality is poor.

    The audio quality is fine.

    The disc has a good selection of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Vicar of Dibley-The Specials (2004) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Dibley Defrocked Featurette-2005 Comic Relief Sketch Biographies-Cast & Crew-Behind The Scenes Teaser For 1999 Red Nose Day
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	101:41 (Case: 125)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gareth Carrivick John Howard Davies Dewi Humphreys
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Dawn French Gary Waldhorn Emma Chambers James Fleet John Bluthal Roger Lloyd-Pack Trevor Peacock
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Howard Goodall

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    The Vicar of Dibley is one of the great English comedy series, along with shows like Black Adder, Mr Bean and Fawlty Towers. Leaving aside Fawlty Towers the others all have something in common besides being English. Richard Curtis was involved with writing all of them. He is definitely one of the greatest comedy writers ever to hail from the British Isles. Besides those mentioned above he also wrote for Not the Nine O'Clock News and Spitting Image and wrote both Bridget Jones films, Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings & a Funeral.

    The Vicar of Dibley is set in the small village of Dibley in rural England and features the weird and amusing inhabitants of the village. The main character is the village Vicar, Geraldine Grainger (Dawn French) who is 'a babe, with a bob and a magnificent bosum'. In Series 1 she arrived in this small village as their new Vicar much to the consternation of the villagers, as they were expecting a man. However, over the three series she was accepted as the vicar and has become a very popular member of the community, especially with some of the menfolk. The other villagers who appear regularly in this series are

• David Horton (Gary Waldhorn) - The local rich landowner who also runs the town council. He is stuffy, arrogant and a snob.
• Hugo Horton (James Fleet) - David's dim-witted son who is married to Alice.
• Alice Horton nee Tinker (Emma Chambers) - The dim-witted verger of the church who married Hugo in series 2.
• Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) - A sex obsessed and mad old villager.
• Frank Pickle (John Bluthal) - A gay and very boring old villager.
• Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack) - A sex obsessed and borderline psychotic farmer.

    After the third series in 2000, there were no new Vicar of Dibley shows until these specials were released, except for a few small skits for charity. This disc contains two  approximately 50 minute specials made in 2004 for airing on the BBC at Christmas and New Year 2004/05 and another shorter charity special in the extras. These shows still have their very funny moments, however, I think the format is getting a little tired and clichéd and the second of these shows is more about how terrible poverty is than anything else. Whilst I understand that this is a serious issue, I feel it's a little overdone in this case, especially when you buy a DVD expecting a comedy show.

    The shows included here are:

1. Merry Christmas 2004 (53:58) - It is Geraldine's 10th anniversary in Dibley and the town decides to have a competition to make up a new Christmas Carol in her honour. A rumour starts that Geraldine is gay which has David up in arms. David gives the house away to Hugo and Alice as a tax dodge with interesting results and Geraldine considers a new job. There is some funny material here and this is the pick of the two specials. Rachel Hunter guests.
2. Happy New Year 2005 (47:43) - Geraldine wants the town to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Live Aid and it's also her 40th birthday which she doesn't want to celebrate. The villagers try to find her a boyfriend by sending her speed dating. As I mentioned above the overdone poverty lecture in this episode reduces its comedic value, although there are certainly funny scenes.

    This disc is definitely worth having for Vicar of Dibley fans, however it is not quite up to the standard of the original series.

Video

    The video quality is good and certainly superior to the video quality of the third series. It is however still in NTSC which is consistent with the previous releases.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio. It is very disappointing that this DVD is presented in NTSC format considering that it is a television production originating from a PAL country. All three seasons of this show have been formatted in this way and it seems to be an issue with rights. There is also some light grain.

    The picture was reasonably sharp and clear, with no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was ordinary. There was a bit of shimmering about, especially on camera pans.

    The colour was quite decent, and certainly much better than the third series, although there was some colour bleeding particularly from reds, which seemed a little oversaturated. There was also bleeding from light colours such as white, some variations in colour from time to time and some chroma noise.

    Other than those mentioned above there were no overt artefacts.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is fine.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync, which is of course critical in a comedy show.

    The music by Howard Goodall does its job but doesn't stand out. The theme song is sung by a real church choir and was originally written for a hymn.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu was simple and still.

Dibley Defrocked (10:56)

    This is presented 4x3 and is a behind-the-scenes featurette on the filming of these specials in front of a live audience. It covers the process the actors went through including rehearsals and also shows make-up and various goofs. Quite entertaining.

2005 Comedy Relief Special (14:08)

    This is an amusing short special where Antiques Roadshow visits Dibley and there are a number of surprises, mostly regarding the authenticity of David's painting collection.

Cast Biographies

    Text bios for Dawn French, Gary Waldhorn, James Fleet, Emma Chambers, John Bluthal, Trevor Peacock, Roger Lloyd-Pack and writers Richard Curtis & Paul Mayhew-Archer.

    This release is identical to the Region 1 release. The Region 2 release includes some extra things as follows:

• It is in PAL (according to reviews it seems to have better video quality too)
• The Comic Relief Celebrity Party special which was included on the Season 3 set here
• The Epilogues - a compilation of all the epilogue jokes from all three series.

    On this basis I would buy the Region 2 product.

    The video quality is good and significantly better than season three although still in NTSC.

    The audio quality is fine.

    The disc has a small selection of quality extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Vicar of Dibley-A Holy Wholly Happy Ending (2006) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Featurette-Behind The Scenes-The Vicar of Dibley Story Biographies-Cast & Crew-
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	108:47
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gareth Carrivick John Howard Davies Dewi Humphreys
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Dawn French Gary Waldhorn Emma Chambers James Fleet John Bluthal Roger Lloyd-Pack Trevor Peacock
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Howard Goodall

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Vicar of Dibley is one of the great English comedy series, along with shows like Black Adder, Mr Bean and Fawlty Towers. Leaving aside Fawlty Towers the others all have something in common besides being English. Richard Curtis was involved with writing all of them. He is definitely one of the greatest comedy writers ever to hail from the British Isles. Besides those mentioned above he also wrote for Not the Nine O'Clock News and Spitting Image and wrote both Bridget Jones films, Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings & a Funeral.

    The Vicar of Dibley is set in the small village of Dibley in rural England and features the weird and amusing inhabitants of the village. The main character is the village Vicar, Geraldine Grainger (Dawn French) who is 'a babe, with a bob and a magnificent bosom'. In Series 1 she arrived in this small village as their new Vicar much to the consternation of the villagers, as they were expecting a man. However, over the three series she was accepted as the vicar and became a very popular member of the community, especially with some of the menfolk. The other villagers who appear regularly in this series are

• David Horton (Gary Waldhorn) - The local rich landowner who also runs the town council. He is stuffy, arrogant and a snob.
• Hugo Horton (James Fleet) - David's dim-witted son who is married to Alice.
• Alice Horton nee Tinker (Emma Chambers) - The dim-witted verger of the church who married Hugo in series 2.
• Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock) - A sex obsessed and mad old villager.
• Frank Pickle (John Bluthal) - A gay and very boring old villager.
• Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack) - A sex obsessed and borderline psychotic farmer.

    Following on from the previous set of specials in 2004 where I think the quality dipped a little, this disc contains what will probably be the final episodes of the show. Included here are two one hour shows which were shown over the Christmas/New Year period in 2006/7 by the BBC. Specifically they are: 

1. Handsome Stranger (53:17) - The village is being inundated with London residents buying cottages which they are only using at the weekends. Geraldine & Alice set off to give the latest one a piece of their mind, when they discover that he is the good looking and available Harry (Richard Armitage). Harry and Geraldine are immediately attracted to each other but things do not go smoothly.
2. The Vicar in White (55:30) - The villagers take on the organisation of the wedding with hilarious consequences.

    Comedically, this disc is a return to form for the show with many side splitting laughs. All your favourite characters are back and in great form. My only real criticism would be that the character of Harry is not particularly well written and the speed of the romance is not overly believable. Richard Armitage does not look entirely comfortable in comedy compared to his excellent performances in Robin Hood & North & South. This disc is available separately or as part of the new Immaculate Collection. Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is good but not without issues. It is however still in NTSC which is consistent with the previous releases.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio. It is very disappointing that this DVD is presented in NTSC format considering that it is a television production originating from a PAL country. All local releases of this show have been formatted in this way and it seems to be an issue with rights.

    The picture was reasonably sharp and clear, with no evidence of low level noise.The shadow detail was quite decent. There was a bit of shimmering about especially on camera pans. There was grain throughout which descended into macro-blocking on occasion especially in backgrounds.

    The colour was quite decent, certainly much better than the third series although there was some colour bleeding especially from reds, which seemed a little oversaturated. There was also bleeding from light colours such as white.

    Some aliasing especially in the opening credits was noticeable.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync, which is of course critical in a comedy show.

    The music by Howard Goodall does its job but doesn't stand out. The theme song is sung by a real church choir and was originally written for a hymn..

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu was simple, including some animation and dialogue.

The Vicar of Dibley Story (59:07)

    An excellent hour long documentary about the show including interview snippets with all of the main cast members and important crew such as Richard Curtis, other writers and more. Topics covered include inspiration for the series, response from the clergy, the female vicar who helped develop the character, the tone of the various characters, celebrity guests and the decision to make these specials. Good stuff!

Cast Biographies

    Text bios for Dawn French, Gary Waldhorn, James Fleet, Emma Chambers, John Bluthal, Trevor Peacock, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Richard Armitage and writers Richard Curtis & Paul Mayhew-Archer. The text is very small.

    This release is identical to the Region 1 release. The Region 2 release is very similar but at least is in PAL.

    On this basis I would buy the Region 2 product.

    The video quality is good but not without issue, including that it is still in NTSC.

    The audio quality is good.

    The disc includes a one hour documentary as its main extra.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall