Go channel surfing with our rotating panel of couch potatoes as they share their views on the good, the bad and the ugly on our TV screens. We want to know what you think too, so sink into the sofa and share your comments. Thank God for the saucy vicar
| our TV junkies
It’s not a good time of year to be a couch spud.
All my favourite shows have gone off-air and been replaced by re-runs of re-runs of programs nobody wanted to watch the first time around. Plus schmaltzy Christmas specials. And don’t even get me started about the cricket.
A few weeks ago I described Singing Bee as possibly the worst show on television – I was wrong.
Last night I discovered Channel Ten has sunk to new lows with the appalling American karaoke competition Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Wednesdays, 7.30pm).
It’s worse than Singing Bee and National Bingo combined.
It’s so bad I knocked over my coffee in my rush to reach both the remote and the TV guide, all the while muttering “Heaven help me” and trying to stick my fingers in my ears at the same time. (Tricky, yes, but I’m a girl – we can multi-task.)
A quick flick through the guide and hallelujah! My prayers were answered by that most irreverent of reverends – the Vicar of Dibley (ABC, 8.35pm).
I thought I’d seen every series of this brilliant British sitcom at least three times but it turns out there are more episodes to behold.
Dawn French’s Rev Geraldine Granger, described as "a babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom", is as hilarious as ever, surrounded by her cast of equally eccentric villagers.
There’s dear, sweet, thick-as-two-planks Alice, who is now convinced she’s a descendent of Jesus Christ and seems just a little sharper than last time I saw her; local Tory councillor David Horton; his not-to-bright son Hugo; foul-mouthed farmer Owen (who’s a little too attached to his cows), and stuttering Jim Trott (“No, no, no, no, no … Yes!”).
But last night a new character entered the village – a tall, dark, handsome stranger from London who quickly stole the vicar’s heart (not to mention a few kisses).
Who would have thought the village vicar was such a saucy minx?
And next week, if the trailers are to be believed, there will be wedding bells in Dibley. I can’t wait.
Maybe Christmas won’t be so bad for us couch spuds after all.
Now my only complaint is that the vicar clashes with that other funny new show I was wanting to see, The Starter Wife …
— SUZANNE KEEN
Have your say
Not Registered? Quick registration and comment.
Already Registered? Login and comment.
More RSS feeds
Install the news toolbar
Set up an email news alert 
Recent Comments
the term "morte de rire" (die laughing) was coined for this show, i seriously thought i was going to cark it when Harry(henry.. whatever) proposed to her. I was laughing so hard i couldnt breathe. I only wish i had taped it so i could watch it over and over again.
I didnt think they could improve the vicar of dibley, it has always been a perfect example of british comedy, but last night proved that they can and have make the format better and better.
Bring on summer, ill be on the couch in front of the air-con catching up with the saucy vicar.
This little gem, set in the US, but filmed in Queensland is a summer treat on a very, very dim TV horizon.
Love it.
And if they're going to re-run stuff, make it the good stuff, like Ab Fab, Monty Python and Fawlty Towers! British comedy at its best.
Saunders is sort of a one character model, and can only really do the edwina character, but she does it so perfectly she can be forgiven. French is so versatile, i adore her.