FANS have been rejoicing since it was announced that The Vicar Of Dibley is returning for a series of Christmas specials.
Despite the sitcom officially coming to an end in 2007, the Dawn French series has continued to warm our hearts throughout the years.
The show first landed on our screens back in 1994, bringing with it hilarious vicar, Geraldine Granger, and her band of outrageous villagers.
Although the show centred on Dawn’s leading role, we all came to know and love her co-stars and their kooky personalities.
The show will be back for three short episodes, but will only feature Dawn and James Fleet.
Sadly some of the beloved cast have since passed away, but here we remember all the actors and characters who made the show so great.
Dawn will be reprising her role as Geraldine, the Vicar of Dibley.
When the show took off in the 90s, it saw Dawn take on a new challenge as her fans had been so used to seeing her as one half of comedy duo French and Saunders.
Aside from these two shows, the actress has enjoyed an incredible career and in 2020 was back on the box in ITV’s The Trouble With Maggie Cole.
She also starred alongside Emilia Fox in Delicious.
James will be joining the 2020 Christmas specials, where he will reprise his role of the dim-witted, but kind, Hugo.
The actor is most famous for his role as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral.
James has featured in many hit TV series and movies, and even played Robbie Sloane in Coronation Street for seven episodes.
In 2018 he starred in the third series of The Unforgotten.
The Vicar Of Dibley’s Alice is one of the most unforgettable characters, thanks to her her dim and sweet nature.
Sadly actress Emma passed away in February 2018.
Emma played the role of Alice from 1994 to 2007 and was the verger at the church, who eventually married her second cousin once removed, Hugo.
Film fans will also remember Emma from Richard Curtis’ 1999 classic Notting Hill.
The late star played Honey, the younger sister of Hugh Grant’s character William Thacker.
Who can forgot the mumbling Jim Trott, who couldn’t start a sentence without saying: “No, no, no, no, no.”
His character had the audience in stitches with his misunderstandings and bumbling nature.
Actor Trevor continued to act after Dibley and appeared in shows like , Jonathan Creek, The Thin Blue Line and My Family.
The 89-year-old won’t be appearing in the new Dibley, as he has retired from acting, but instead will be watching at home like the rest of us.
Before Dibley, Gary was well known for being in Shakespearean actor.
He also had parts in 80s TV shows like Brush Strokes and Lovejoy.
In Dibley he played the no-nonsense Councillor Horton, who at first didn’t believe in female vicars, but soon warmed to Geraldine.
These days 77-year-old Gary enjoys the quiet life of retirement, and has remained off screen since his Vicar Of Dibley days.
Who can forget grisly farmer Owen, who was very fond of his cattle and known for his potty mouth.
Before Dibley actor Roger was best known for playing Trigger in Only Fools And Horses in the 80s and 90s.
After that he became known for playing Barty Crouch in the Harry Potter movies.
Sadly actor Roger passed away in January 2014 of pancreatic cancer.
Actor John played Frank in the comedy between 1994 and 2007 and was famed for his boring and endless stories.
In one storyline, he came out as gay on the radio – but discovered barely anyone had actually tuned in because they feared he would drone on too much.
John was well-known for his work with Spike Milligan in The Gladys Half-Hour and The Bed-Sitting Room.
The actor left fans devastated when he died in November 2018 aged 89.
Liz’s character Letitia was known for her terrible style of cooking, run-on sentences, and outrageous floral arrangements.
She was also famously the Dibley Easter Bunny.
Actress LIz was famed for playing Nana in The Royle Family and her role in 2005 Maggie Smith movie, Keeping Mum.
Liz sadly died on Christmas Eve in 2016.
The Vicar Of Dibley In Lockdown starts on BBC One TONIGHT (December 7, 2020) at 8.50pm, following a repeat of a classic episode from the series.
The new series of Christmas specials will consist of three episodes in total, each one clocking in at 10 minutes long,
In the meantime you can watch episodes on the iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox.
