Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2004 13:36:25 GMT -5
Found this on the web, worth a read.... 
Why Dibley’s Dawn French might just spend the day in the bath…<br>
Up and down the country, people are mimicking Little Britain’s delinquent teenager, Vicky Pollard, who begins every sentence with: “Yeah but no but yeah but no…” But, five years ago, it was a different story, as fans of one of the UK’s most popular sitcoms found themselves repeating the words of the dithering Jim Trott: “No, no, no, no, no, no… yes!”<br>
This Christmas, Jim is set to irritate, infuriate and exasperate Geraldine Granger and viewers - once again as the barmy residents of the quaint British village return for two very special Christmas episodes of The Vicar Of Dibley on BBC One. Jane Dudley caught up with Dawn French, who plays the discerning vicar, over coffee and a rather delicious chocolate cake - in the aptly named Parsons Green in South London, to find out what’s been happening in the weird and wonderful parish of Dibley.
“This cake’s a bit surprising, isn’t it? It’s not what you’re quite expecting. It’s very nice, though,” comments Dawn, who donned her dog collar and joined her co-stars, Gary Waldhorn (David), James Fleet (Hugo), Emma Chambers (Alice),Trevor Peacock (Jim), Roger Lloyd Pack (Owen) and John Bluthal (Frank), for the first time in five years for the two specials.
Dawn admits that it was as if the popular sitcom - voted Britain’s third favourite in a BBC poll earlier in the year - had never been away. “On the first day of rehearsals we all went to the Parish Council room and sat at the same places around the table and it just felt like putting a nice old cardie on,” she says.
“Geraldine is getting older … and wider … and wonders whether she’s wasted her life because she’s been in Dibley for 10 years. She’s wondering whether she’s made the right decision to be there at all.” And in fact, Dawn found herself in a similar dilemma when she was asked to take on the role of the female vicar when the series first started, 10 years ago.
“Richard [Curtis, the writer, along with Paul Mayhew-Archer] sent me a very rough outline of the first episode and said, ‘Tell me what you think’. And I read it and thought I’d like to play Alice, because I could see what her jokes were. I thought Geraldine was too much of a goodie two shoes - she didn’t have any of the faults that I thought good, central comedy characters needed. She’s not vain, she’s not a bully, she’s not an ignoramus and she’s not pompous.
“I thought, ‘Am I just going to sit there while everybody else has all the big gags?’ and sometimes it is like that,” she chuckles. “Then Richard said ‘I need you to be in the middle of it, to steer it - Geraldine’s the only sane one in the village. You’ve got to be the one who’s thinking,"Why are all these people mad?"‘<br>
“So I dallied with my decision until Richard sent me a list of people who would be much better in the part and who are much better actresses than me, and then I thought I’d better get on with it and I’m very glad I did,” she laughs.
On the face of it, Dibley is, in Dawn’s words, old-fashioned and cosy, but, she says, it is also a very topical comedy. “When it was first written, it wasn’t yet Church law that women could be priests and it was extremely political to begin with. And I got some very dodgy mail when it started. It was a very eye-opening experience because a lot of the mail I got was from vicars, a lot of them men. These were Christian people, using appalling language and telling me where to shove it, basically, and I was astounded by that. “<br>
It’s these cutting-edge issues that have led to the two Christmas programmes and a Comic Relief special that will be shown next year. Says Dawn:"I think it’s easier for Richard to write when there’s a reason. I think the reason he started thinking about The Vicar Of Dibley is because Comic Relief is coming up again next year. And there were some other issues he wanted to tackle. Over the years he’s said, ‘We really should’ve talked about gay priests and other issues’, so I think he just thought now was the time. “<br>
And, of course, these issues are never better explored than by Alice Horton (née Tinker), the church verger, played by Emma Chambers. Dippy Alice has had a busy few years since The Vicar Of Dibley was last on our screens:"Alice and Hugo have got 10 children - they’ve been at it like rabbits! And the kids are hilarious. We only see them for one little bit but they’re very, very funny,” says Dawn.
Alice gets completely “the wrong end of a very, very long stick” - as only Alice can - when she spots a well-known supermodel in her undies in Geraldine’s house and assumes that she’s stumbled upon Dibley’s first - and, presumably, only - lesbian vicar.
“Alice and Geraldine have had a conversation about how mad it is that gay people can’t be promoted in the Church and so she’s assumed that there’s something between Geraldine and the model. Alice then spreads the rumour around the whole village,” she adds.
“Emma couldn’t be more unlike Alice. She’s a very bright cookie - very sharp, very modern, very forward thinking. But she’s totally got Alice. When she’s performing, I just stand back and admire her acting - and I don’t seem to be doing any acting myself! I feel like I don’t bring enough to the table, sometimes. “<br>
And while the rest of the cast and crew can be in stitches during the recording of The Vicar Of Dibley’s traditional “end joke", Dawn and Emma have to remain completely straight-faced - no matter how many takes there are. “It’s easy for me but it’s very hard for Em. We always forget how much learning it is for her and sometimes Richard will come along the day before filming and say, ‘Let’s do two more jokes’, and it’s pages for her to learn.
“We used to have a little running book on the end jokes when we were doing the series. I think you got a fiver if you came up with a great religious joke. It was always slightly religious but we’ve gone off that a bit this time. We just told lots of jokes to each other and the best ones were used … although sometimes the best ones are not the funniest jokes but the ones that Alice will misunderstand the most. ” And, of course, at this special time of year, the vicar may have a festive joke or two up her sleeve.
Christmas has come to Dibley twice before - once when the village’s Nativity play took a rather realistic turn, and again when Geraldine had to eat four Christmas dinners in one day. “The Brussels Sprouts Christmas Special … the many lunches,” laughs Dawn. “I love that episode, but I have suffered for it ever since. People shout to me, ‘How did you eat all that food?’ and I think, what I actually ate was three Brussels sprouts - I didn’t touch anything else! It’s nice that people believe it, though. Luckily, I love Brussels sprouts!”<br>
Dawn also loves Christmas and is happy to invite over the world and his wife while Lenny Henry, her husband of 20 years, and her mum do all the cooking. “I’m rubbish at cooking!” she laughs. “I love what I cook and absolutely nobody else does. I went to boarding school and I didn’t learn any cooking at all because I wasn’t at home enough, but Len and my mum are great, so they do it. I do all the washing-up, table setting and present buying. That’s more my area and I do a lot of that so I feel like I’ve contributed. And I do quite a lot of eating, so I’m appreciative of it all,” she laughs.
“We’re at home this Christmas. We were away in Cornwall last year - my family lives there - and we were in Florida the year before, so, this year, we’re at home and I’ve already invited too many people. During the year I always think, ‘Won’t it be lovely if we have all his lot, all my lot, all the lot next door, all that lot from Australia - it’ll be lovely and Charles Dickensy’, and then I find I’m in a kind of a Christmas hell. “I take a lot of what I call b-a-t-h-s,” she continues, stretching the word out.
“Len knows what this is code for, which is, ‘I have to go upstairs now and shut the door!’ And sometimes I do actually get in the bath with no water in, and just lie in the bath, so that if anyone were to come in I wouldn’t be lying! I’ve been known to have five ‘baths’ on Christmas Day!”<br>
She’s a great fan of Christmas telly, too, but admits that while she’s glued to the small screen, she rarely actually listens to what’s going on. “I’m sure this is one of the reasons Lenny and I are together. We’re great talkers to the television. We all sit around and there’s lots of, ‘Look at that, look at her’, and the people on television are hardly ever allowed to speak. We might as well have the sound down.
“I love the films on Christmas morning. I love encouraging my daughter [13-year-old Billie] to sit and watch telly in the morning because it feels like a really wicked thing to do. I have to force her, though - she wants to do things like go for a walk, so I have to make her sit down and watch telly,” she laughs.
So will Dawn settle down with her family and friends to watch The Vicar Of Dibley this Christmas? “Ooh I don’t know if I could bear that. I don’t know if I could sit and watch it, actually. I might let them all watch it and I’ll go somewhere else - I’ll be in the bath!” she laughs.
Why Dibley’s Dawn French might just spend the day in the bath…<br>
Up and down the country, people are mimicking Little Britain’s delinquent teenager, Vicky Pollard, who begins every sentence with: “Yeah but no but yeah but no…” But, five years ago, it was a different story, as fans of one of the UK’s most popular sitcoms found themselves repeating the words of the dithering Jim Trott: “No, no, no, no, no, no… yes!”<br>
This Christmas, Jim is set to irritate, infuriate and exasperate Geraldine Granger and viewers - once again as the barmy residents of the quaint British village return for two very special Christmas episodes of The Vicar Of Dibley on BBC One. Jane Dudley caught up with Dawn French, who plays the discerning vicar, over coffee and a rather delicious chocolate cake - in the aptly named Parsons Green in South London, to find out what’s been happening in the weird and wonderful parish of Dibley.
“This cake’s a bit surprising, isn’t it? It’s not what you’re quite expecting. It’s very nice, though,” comments Dawn, who donned her dog collar and joined her co-stars, Gary Waldhorn (David), James Fleet (Hugo), Emma Chambers (Alice),Trevor Peacock (Jim), Roger Lloyd Pack (Owen) and John Bluthal (Frank), for the first time in five years for the two specials.
Dawn admits that it was as if the popular sitcom - voted Britain’s third favourite in a BBC poll earlier in the year - had never been away. “On the first day of rehearsals we all went to the Parish Council room and sat at the same places around the table and it just felt like putting a nice old cardie on,” she says.
“Geraldine is getting older … and wider … and wonders whether she’s wasted her life because she’s been in Dibley for 10 years. She’s wondering whether she’s made the right decision to be there at all.” And in fact, Dawn found herself in a similar dilemma when she was asked to take on the role of the female vicar when the series first started, 10 years ago.
“Richard [Curtis, the writer, along with Paul Mayhew-Archer] sent me a very rough outline of the first episode and said, ‘Tell me what you think’. And I read it and thought I’d like to play Alice, because I could see what her jokes were. I thought Geraldine was too much of a goodie two shoes - she didn’t have any of the faults that I thought good, central comedy characters needed. She’s not vain, she’s not a bully, she’s not an ignoramus and she’s not pompous.
“I thought, ‘Am I just going to sit there while everybody else has all the big gags?’ and sometimes it is like that,” she chuckles. “Then Richard said ‘I need you to be in the middle of it, to steer it - Geraldine’s the only sane one in the village. You’ve got to be the one who’s thinking,"Why are all these people mad?"‘<br>
“So I dallied with my decision until Richard sent me a list of people who would be much better in the part and who are much better actresses than me, and then I thought I’d better get on with it and I’m very glad I did,” she laughs.
On the face of it, Dibley is, in Dawn’s words, old-fashioned and cosy, but, she says, it is also a very topical comedy. “When it was first written, it wasn’t yet Church law that women could be priests and it was extremely political to begin with. And I got some very dodgy mail when it started. It was a very eye-opening experience because a lot of the mail I got was from vicars, a lot of them men. These were Christian people, using appalling language and telling me where to shove it, basically, and I was astounded by that. “<br>
It’s these cutting-edge issues that have led to the two Christmas programmes and a Comic Relief special that will be shown next year. Says Dawn:"I think it’s easier for Richard to write when there’s a reason. I think the reason he started thinking about The Vicar Of Dibley is because Comic Relief is coming up again next year. And there were some other issues he wanted to tackle. Over the years he’s said, ‘We really should’ve talked about gay priests and other issues’, so I think he just thought now was the time. “<br>
And, of course, these issues are never better explored than by Alice Horton (née Tinker), the church verger, played by Emma Chambers. Dippy Alice has had a busy few years since The Vicar Of Dibley was last on our screens:"Alice and Hugo have got 10 children - they’ve been at it like rabbits! And the kids are hilarious. We only see them for one little bit but they’re very, very funny,” says Dawn.
Alice gets completely “the wrong end of a very, very long stick” - as only Alice can - when she spots a well-known supermodel in her undies in Geraldine’s house and assumes that she’s stumbled upon Dibley’s first - and, presumably, only - lesbian vicar.
“Alice and Geraldine have had a conversation about how mad it is that gay people can’t be promoted in the Church and so she’s assumed that there’s something between Geraldine and the model. Alice then spreads the rumour around the whole village,” she adds.
“Emma couldn’t be more unlike Alice. She’s a very bright cookie - very sharp, very modern, very forward thinking. But she’s totally got Alice. When she’s performing, I just stand back and admire her acting - and I don’t seem to be doing any acting myself! I feel like I don’t bring enough to the table, sometimes. “<br>
And while the rest of the cast and crew can be in stitches during the recording of The Vicar Of Dibley’s traditional “end joke", Dawn and Emma have to remain completely straight-faced - no matter how many takes there are. “It’s easy for me but it’s very hard for Em. We always forget how much learning it is for her and sometimes Richard will come along the day before filming and say, ‘Let’s do two more jokes’, and it’s pages for her to learn.
“We used to have a little running book on the end jokes when we were doing the series. I think you got a fiver if you came up with a great religious joke. It was always slightly religious but we’ve gone off that a bit this time. We just told lots of jokes to each other and the best ones were used … although sometimes the best ones are not the funniest jokes but the ones that Alice will misunderstand the most. ” And, of course, at this special time of year, the vicar may have a festive joke or two up her sleeve.
Christmas has come to Dibley twice before - once when the village’s Nativity play took a rather realistic turn, and again when Geraldine had to eat four Christmas dinners in one day. “The Brussels Sprouts Christmas Special … the many lunches,” laughs Dawn. “I love that episode, but I have suffered for it ever since. People shout to me, ‘How did you eat all that food?’ and I think, what I actually ate was three Brussels sprouts - I didn’t touch anything else! It’s nice that people believe it, though. Luckily, I love Brussels sprouts!”<br>
Dawn also loves Christmas and is happy to invite over the world and his wife while Lenny Henry, her husband of 20 years, and her mum do all the cooking. “I’m rubbish at cooking!” she laughs. “I love what I cook and absolutely nobody else does. I went to boarding school and I didn’t learn any cooking at all because I wasn’t at home enough, but Len and my mum are great, so they do it. I do all the washing-up, table setting and present buying. That’s more my area and I do a lot of that so I feel like I’ve contributed. And I do quite a lot of eating, so I’m appreciative of it all,” she laughs.
“We’re at home this Christmas. We were away in Cornwall last year - my family lives there - and we were in Florida the year before, so, this year, we’re at home and I’ve already invited too many people. During the year I always think, ‘Won’t it be lovely if we have all his lot, all my lot, all the lot next door, all that lot from Australia - it’ll be lovely and Charles Dickensy’, and then I find I’m in a kind of a Christmas hell. “I take a lot of what I call b-a-t-h-s,” she continues, stretching the word out.
“Len knows what this is code for, which is, ‘I have to go upstairs now and shut the door!’ And sometimes I do actually get in the bath with no water in, and just lie in the bath, so that if anyone were to come in I wouldn’t be lying! I’ve been known to have five ‘baths’ on Christmas Day!”<br>
She’s a great fan of Christmas telly, too, but admits that while she’s glued to the small screen, she rarely actually listens to what’s going on. “I’m sure this is one of the reasons Lenny and I are together. We’re great talkers to the television. We all sit around and there’s lots of, ‘Look at that, look at her’, and the people on television are hardly ever allowed to speak. We might as well have the sound down.
“I love the films on Christmas morning. I love encouraging my daughter [13-year-old Billie] to sit and watch telly in the morning because it feels like a really wicked thing to do. I have to force her, though - she wants to do things like go for a walk, so I have to make her sit down and watch telly,” she laughs.
So will Dawn settle down with her family and friends to watch The Vicar Of Dibley this Christmas? “Ooh I don’t know if I could bear that. I don’t know if I could sit and watch it, actually. I might let them all watch it and I’ll go somewhere else - I’ll be in the bath!” she laughs.
I'll change the topic