Vicar of Dibley to give Black Lives Matter sermon in Christmas special

The Vicar Of Dibley will take the knee and deliver a sermon about Black Lives Matter as the BBC hit comedy returns for  a series of Christmas specials
BBC
John Dunne @jhdunne6 December 2020

The Vicar Of Dibley will take the knee and deliver a sermon about Black Lives Matter as the BBC hit comedy returns for  a series of Christmas specials.

Reverend Geraldine Kennedy, who is played by Dawn French,   speaks about the killing of George Floyd by American police  and the issue of racism in one of the three episodes, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The sketch begins with the vicar being filmed by farmer and parishioner Owen Newitt as she comes out of her home after lockdown.

Rev Kennedy then tells the audience that she has been preoccupied with the 'horror show' of Mr Floyd's death and what she describes as 'this Black Lives Matter thing', the paper said.

She acknowledges that Dibley, a fictional village in Oxfordshire, is not the most ethnically diverse community,  before adding: “I don't think it matters where you're from. I think it matters that you do something about it because Jesus would, wouldn't he?'Until all lives matter the same, we are doing something very wrong we need to focus on justice for a huge chunk of our countrymen and women who seem to have a very bad, weird deal from the day they're born", it reported.

She then walks to the parish noticeboard and removes two posters, one about decimalisation, the other relating to a missing button. The Vicar continues: “I think that in Dibley perhaps we should think about taking down some of these old notices like this and that and perhaps we should put up one like this instead.”

She then pins a home-made Black Lives Matter poster to the noticeboard before taking the knee.

The sketch contrasts with the rest of the scenes which see Rev Kennedy joking about online quizzes and excessive alcohol consumption during the pandemic.

Written by the show's co-creators Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, each episode sees the vicar delivering a sermon to camera.

Ms French, 63, made no secret of her views in the wake of Mr Floyd's killing, tweeting: 'Black Lives Matter. This is a fact not a slogan.'

However, some criticised the award winning show for potentially going down a political route.

Steve Bennett, editor of the comedy website Chortle, said: “Making social comments is absolutely what comedy should do and BLM is a commendable cause, but Geraldine's very earnest speech certainly jars with the tone of the show.”

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