4. The Vicar Of Dibley The Christmas Lunch Incident (BBC One, 1996)
In an effort to avoid disappointing her parishioners, Geraldine agrees to have three different Christmas dinners. In complete contrast to
The Royle Family and
Gavin and Stacey, weve got
The Vicar Of Dibley dealing with a bizarre situation focussed a cast of characters that are almost all completely mental. The situation itself is a source for some truly inspired gags, especially the running joke of Geraldine making plans to eat as little as possible only to discover the villagers putting on immense spreads for her. Outside of the Christmas dinner story, there are terrific small gags here and there like Geraldine having thirty advent calendars, and Alice deciding that the story of the Nativity is dull after you first hear it and isnt funny enough. Theres not much else to say than that the situation combined with the collection of odd characters that Dibley is home to makes this one of the best sitcom Christmas specials around. Though the return of Peter Capaldis (
The Thick Of it) character from the
Songs Of Praise episode doesnt really fit too well with the rest of the story. Still, that doesnt make the rest of it any worse.
Best Moment: Geraldine having Christmas dinner with Alice and her relatives, proving that in Dibley, insanity is both hereditary and unavoidable.