Dawn: I love being wicked!
Why the festive season may be tinged with grief as well as ‘happy laughs’ for actress Dawn French
‘Life is a bit fragile and it can be a bit temporary – we’ve got to be mindful of that’
If we were asked to name a sitcom that best sums up Christmas, most of us – without thinking – would say The Vicar
Of Dibley, starring Dawn French. The show ended 20 years ago but our nostalgic love for Geraldine Granger and her parishioners knows no bounds, from Red Nose Day sketches to frequent reruns on Gold and
the BBC. Every Christmas, the nation hoped for just one more series. But that now seems less likely than ever. And, for Dawn, watching old episodes and thinking of that time in her life will be tinged with sadness.
Actor John Bluthal, best known for playing parish bore Frank Pickle, passed away this November, aged 89, following complications after a fall.
Dawn, 61, took to Twitter to pay fond respects to her friend, who she worked with between 1994 and 1998. Tons of happy laughs remembered. Cheeky, naughty, hilarious. Bye, darlin Bluey, she wrote.
John’s passing comes just nine months after Emma Chambers – aka Alice Tinker, the ditzy blonde sidekick to Dawn’s straight-talking vicar – also died, of natural causes, at just 53.
At the time, a devastated Dawn, who called her friend ‘a unique and beautiful spark’, said that Emma, who suffered from severe allergies, was ‘far too young, and we’re all still reeling’.
She added, ‘My memories of working with Emma are some of my most favourite memories of my whole career… She was incredibly bright. Very funny, very knowing, and yet she was able to play someone who was in a different world – I loved her. A lot.’
How sad that Dawn has lost two members of her on-screen family in one year. So, it’s not beyond the realms of imagination that this Christmas will be a emotional one as Dawn remembers Emma and John – especially given that some of the most memorable episodes were set during the festive season.
It’s a reminder to us all that time spent with loved ones is precious. As Dawn said, recalling memories of her dad, ‘Life is a bit fragile and it can be a bit temporary, and we’ve just got to be mindful of that.’