Richard Armitage Central - The Vicar of Dibley

The Vicar of Dibley - Harry Kennedy (2006)

For the Vicar's romantic lead in the final episodes in the highly successful, long-running comedy, The Vicar of Dibley, starring Dawn French, the producers wanted someone "gorgeous – Dawn insisted on that. We wanted someone the public would know, or most of the public would know, but we wanted someone without too much baggage". (Vicar of Dibley, Behind the Scenes, DVD extra )

Armitage comes to the village of Dibley as Harry Kennedy, a London accountant in the midst of a sea change. He meets Geraldine Granger (French), the vicar at St Barnabas's Church, and a romance is kindled. ("Heaven Sent Bloke", Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2007, Michael Idato)

Production details

Cast
Geraldine Grainger - Dawn French
Harry Kennedy - Richard Armitage
David Horton - Gary Waldhorn
Hugo Horton - James Fleet
Alice Horton - Emma Chambers
Frank Pickle - John Bluthal
Jim Trott - Trevor Peacock
Owen Newitt - Roger Lloyd-Pack
Jeremy Ogilvy - Hugh Bonneville
Rosie Kennedy - Keeley Hawes

I suppose he's looking for some peace on a little Buddhist journey ... It's not really explored in depth in the story but he's been working in the city and he's burned out and he's come to the country to find some harmony. ("Heaven Sent Bloke", Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2007, Michael Idato)

I was sitting on a train reading the scripts and crying with laughter and all these businessmen were turning round tutting at me but you don’t often read scripts that make you laugh out loud. I spent the whole 3 weeks crying with laughter. (Vicar of Dibley, Behind the Scenes, DVD extras)

Writers
Richard Curtis
Paul Mayhew-Archer

Director
Ed Bye

We went through all sorts of posh famous names who might have been very willing and happy to do it, but we agreed it could have unsettled things. The show isn't about going, "Look who that is!" It's about finding the right bloke for this character who we've known for so long. So our first thoughts we dismissed because we realised we needed somebody that you'd just believe and think, "Yeah, I'm glad she's with him". It needed to be someone who could match her and be her equal. Richard Armitage plays it very well ... Actually, I felt a bit sorry for him having to snog an old bird like me every day. But he didn't seem to mind too much. (Dawn French, "The Vicar of Dibley Finds Love At Last”, Express Saturday Magazine, December 23, 2006)

The family sat down together and we really enjoyed it. For me, personally, after playing 6 months of Guy of Gisborne scowling it was just brilliant to spend all that time laughing. (GMTV Interview, Lorraine Kelly, October 3, 2007)

I have done very little comedy and I'm so not funny and Dawn is probably one of the funniest women in the country ... ("Heaven Sent Bloke", Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2007, Michael Idato)

It was so much fun and working towards Christmas in that kind of atmosphere was a gift really. She’s such a lovely woman and very inspiring. And, actually, it’s quite democratic the process that they go through on that show, you know. Everyone has an input and my opinion was valued as much as anybody’s so it was a great experience for me. (BBC Radio Leicester, October 2, 2007)

[It] took a long time before I stopped sitting there, looking across the table and saying, "What the f--- am I doing here?"
("Heaven Sent Bloke", Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2007, Michael Idato)

But the fantastic thing about Dawn was that she completely destroyed my fears about comedians. I'd always thought they would be the funniest people but she was tentative with everybody, particularly with me, and she found out where my sense of humour was lying and started to play with me. Once she'd located it, she started pushing my buttons. ("Heaven Sent Bloke", Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2007, Michael Idato)

The dvd for this double episode may be purchased at:

Amazon.com (region 1)
Amazon.co.uk (region 2)
ABC shop online (region 4)
EzyDVD (region 4)