The Arrival is the first episode of Series 1 of The Vicar of Dibley. It first aired 10 November 1994.
Opening Joke[]
A resident is thatching a roof, but slides off.
Summary[]
David Horton finishes delivering a lesson, then Reverend Pottle blesses the congregation, all five of them, including David, his son Hugo, Alice the verger, Frank, and Letitia the organist. When he takes a lengthy pause afterward, Alice discovers that he has died. At the next meeting of the Dibley Parish council, David says they have requested a younger replacement vicar.
David tells Hugo of his plans to sack both Alice and Letitia.
The replacement vicar, Geraldine Granger, arrives at the Horton's home. David is horrified to find out that they have a woman vicar. The other villagers (apart from Owen Newitt) don't seem to mind. The next day, David rings the bishop and asks for Geraldine to be removed from her position as the Vicar of Dibley, but the bishop is busy. Meanwhile, the other villagers discuss whether it is right to be having a woman vicar, most of them agree that change can be a good thing. Geraldine and Alice really get to know each other whilst discussing her first sermon. That's when Geraldine finds out that the service is usually only attended by four people.
David calls an emergency council meeting, inviting everyone except the vicar to the meeting early, and tells them he has written a letter telling the bishop that they are unhappy about their new vicar and he asks if there are any objections. Before anyone gets a chance to say anything, the vicar arrives, and Frank is forced to read the letter out loud. The vicar is shocked by this, but Owen suggests that they at least see how she does on Sunday and all but David agree. On that Sunday, the vicar attracts a huge crowd to the church and gives an excellent sermon. The villagers tell her she is definitely staying on as vicar.
Closing Joke[]
So there's this nun, right? And she's having a bath. And a knock comes on the door. and she says, "Who is it?" and the reply comes, "It's the blind man. Can I come in?" She thinks for a minute and she says, "Yes, all right then, come in." So this chap comes in and says, "Nice tits! Where do you want me to hang the blind?"
Characters[]
- David Horton
- Reverend Pottle
- Alice Tinker
- Hugo Horton
- Frank Pickle
- Letitia Cropley
- Jim Trott
- Owen Newitt
- Geraldine Granger
Gallery[]
