The Vicar of Dibley

The series was created by Richard Curtis and written for actress Dawn French by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. The main character was an invention of Richard Curtis, but he and French extensively consulted Joy Carroll, one of the first female Anglican priests, and garnered many character traits and much information.[2]

In earlier episodes, the opening credits were followed by a humorous village scene, such as a woman knitting directly from a sheep.[3]

After the closing credits, Geraldine usually tells Alice a joke, to which Alice either overreacts, tries to interpret literally, or understands only after Geraldine explains it. There are a few exceptions to this in various episodes.

Hugh Bonneville, Mel Giedroyc, Richard Griffiths, Miranda Hart, Alistair McGowan, Geraldine McNulty, Philip Whitchurch, Nathalie Cox, Nicholas Le Prevost, Brian Perkins and Roger Sloman have all made one guest appearance each.

Pam Rhodes, Kylie Minogue, Rachel Hunter, Terry Wogan, Jeremy Paxman, Martyn Lewis, Darcey Bussell and Sean Bean each appeared as themselves in one episode.

Sarah, Duchess of York, Richard Ayoade, Orla Brady, Fiona Bruce, Annette Crosbie, Johnny Depp, Ruth Jones, Hilary Kay, Damian Lewis, Maureen Lipman, Jennifer Saunders, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, Stephen Tompkinson, Dervla Kirwan, and Emma Watson have made guest appearances in short charity specials.

The village of Turville in Buckinghamshire stands in for the village of Dibley

St Mary's Church, Turville, stands in for the fictional 'Parish Church of St Barnabus'[7]

The programme is set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley. Some of the villagers, including Alice, Jim, and Owen, speak with slight West Country accents, as were once common in Oxfordshire but are now less common. The series was filmed in the Buckinghamshire village of Turville, near High Wycombe, with the village's St Mary the Virgin Church doubling as Dibley's St Barnabus.[7] The exterior location for David Horton's manor is in the village of Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

The opening titles show aerial shots of the M40 motorway's Stokenchurch Gap, the Chiltern Hills of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and the village of Turville.

The theme music was a setting of Psalm 23 composed by Howard Goodall, and was performed by the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with George Humphreys[8] singing the solo. The conductor was Stephen Darlington. Two versions are used over the opening credits: one with full choir, and one with a solo. Goodall originally wrote it as a serious piece of church choral music. It has been released as a charity single, with proceeds going to Comic Relief.[9] It also appears on Goodall's CD Choral Works, which additionally includes his theme for Mr. Bean, another popular comedy co-created by Richard Curtis. A snippet of The Vicar of Dibley's theme music was used in the Mr. Bean episode "Tee Off, Mr. Bean" and the music from Mr Bean plays during Sean Bean's cameo in The Vicar of Dibley episode "Spring".

On 6 February 2007, Fox announced plans to adapt The Vicar of Dibley into an American sitcom, titled The Minister of Divine. The series starred Kirstie Alley as a former "wild child" who returned to her hometown as its first female minister.[15] The pilot was broadcast on Fox, but the series was not made.[16]

The series has also been adapted into two stage plays by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter, both incorporating plots from the TV episodes.[17] The first is titled The Vicar of Dibley, and is largely concerned with Alice and Hugo's engagement and wedding. The second, A Vicar of Dibley Christmas – The Second Coming, is based on the episodes "Dibley Live" and "Winter", in which the villagers set up a radio station and put on a nativity play at Owen's farm. A third adaptation by Steve Clark and David Lovesy, titled The Vicar of Dibley - The Holy Trinity , covers Baby Geraldine’s Christening, David Horton brief wooing of Geraldine and the Save Our Dibley campaign as the village is threatened by a new reservoir. Performance rights for all three are available through United Agents.

In February 2016, it was reported that Dawn French was interested in returning to the role in a new series, The Bishop of Dibley, to follow on from the 2015 Red Nose Day Special.[18] In December 2020, French opened up about the prospect of The Vicar of Dibley returning for a new series in 2021.[19]

In December 2022, Channel 5 aired a 67-minute special retrospective for their "Comedy Classics" series. Actors and celebrities, including co-writer Paul Mayhew-Archer take a look back, discuss and pay tribute to the show.[20]