PICK OF THE DAY
The Vicar Of Dibley In Lockdown
BBC1, 8.50pm Dawn French (right) returns as the Rev Geraldine Granger, and the much-loved sitcom has been given a new format for the pandemic. The good vicar has been delivering her sermons via video link throughout the year, and over three episodes we’ll be treated to a hasty runthrough of clips from them all, starting off with Easter during the first lockdown.
Writers Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer pack the scripts with oodles of laughs, and if they’re not afraid to use the obvious (as when the vicar’s screen freezes so that what’s intended as a reassuring message is accidentally turned into a prophecy of the end of the world) the gags are always worthwhile.
French reminds us what a gifted star she is, her nuanced performance combining seemingly effortless comedy and moments of surprising emotion.