Rev. Geraldine Granger (Dawn French)
You were expecting a bloke - beard, bible, bad breath? And instead you got a babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom.
The eponymous vicar of Dibley, a recently ordained priest of the Church of England who comes to the village following the previous vicar's death from old age.- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her reaction to Simon Horton's description of himself as the too much drinking and too much sex "prodigal" brother is to be visibly turned on... but she's turned very off when he dumps her for his ex.
- Big Beautiful Woman: The village certainly seems to think Geraldine is, with constant references to her "lovely arse."
- Big-Breast Pride: She's quite proud of her "magnificent bosom."
- Big Eater: She loves her chocolate. She also has a very large freezer dedicated solely to ice cream. When she's upset, she eats more than should be humanly possible.
- Big Fun: oh, so very much.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Whenever an outsider starts wondering about Dibley's woman vicar, Geraldine says that "the vicar" is beloved by all and quite sexy to boot.
- Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as David, but slips into this occasionally, especially when Alice, or her fellow Parish council members let their stupidity get the better of them.
- Did I Say That Out Loud: Word-for-word while she's trying to get Hugo and Alice to express their feelings for each other.
- Earth Mother: Geraldine is called upon to provide love, sympathy, understanding and support to her flock twenty-four and seven, and dispenses this generously and unstintingly.
- Embarrassing First Name: Revealed later in the series to be Boadicea, much to David's amusement.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Out of Rule of Funny, retconned in the very last episode to be "Julie Andrews Dick Van Dyke Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious Chim Chimeny Chim Chimeney Chim Chim Cher-ee"—a name more appropriate to somebody who had actually been born in Dibley.
- Fee Fi Faux Pas: When David mentions he's running for Councilman, Geraldine approves because their current councilman is Mr. Totally Useless from the Do Sod-All Party—who is he anyway—cue awkward silences.Geraldine: ...David. It's David.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: With Harry.
- Good Shepherd: Although she's frequently driven mad by the madness of her parishioners, she comes to truly love and care for her mad little flock and will do just about anything for them. (Barring their numerous requests for sex or marriage.)
- Heroic BSoD: When Simon dumps her for another woman, she refuses to say Mass for weeks.
- Mistaken for Gay: After a hypothetical conversation with Alice and a chance encounter with a supermodel, Alice tells the whole village that Geraldine is gay. This leads to an interesting council meeting, where everyone assumes that her proposals for a film club and an art class must be for lesbian films and women painting pictures of each other nude.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After her actions in "Celebrity Vicar" result in the villagers being humiliated, she is thoroughly ashamed of herself.
- Only Sane Woman: Ninety percent of the time, she and David are the only ones who realize that Dibley is completely mad. The other ten percent, well, she's going a bit nuts herself.
- Shipper on Deck: For Alice and Hugo."Oh for Heaven's sake, JUST KISS YOU MORONS!"
- Sweet Tooth: She has hollowed out Bibles to keep candy in, multiple Advent calendars in Decembers, and apparently has an orgasmic love for Curly-Wurlies. She had a supermarket-style, glass-door freezer full of ice-cream installed in her kitchen, and ate the entire contents after Simon dumped her.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Chocolate.
- The Vicar: Geraldine famously subverts this character type being an extroverted, fun-loving woman.
- Writer's Block: She gets a bad case of pressure fright over her second Christmas sermon when she's told that her first was a bore. In desperation, she uses the Authorized Biography of the Spice Girls.
David Horton (Gary Waldhorn)
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Geraldine in the third series.
- Bald of Evil: Well, pretty evil in the first episodes.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Geraldine, though it's decidedly one-sided. David was so used to arguing with people that he misinterpreted Geraldine's resistance to him as genuine affection. She does care about him in a weird way, just not in that way.
- Birds of a Feather: Subverted. He does fall for Geraldine, but she turns him down because just being the only two sane people in the village doesn't mean they should be married.
- British Stuffiness: His reaction when Hugo hugs him is to stand stock-still and look uncomfortable.
- Cassandra Truth:
- In "Celebrity Vicar", the others dismiss him as stuffy when he predicts disaster from Geraldine's publicity.
- His objections to Geraldine's romance with Simon in "Autumn" are also dismissed for similar reasons—he's also worried because he knows what Simon is like, but he's interrupted before he can go into detail.
- Corrupt Politician: As elected councilor, he had a golf course built in Dibley ostensibly for public use, but in reality only he uses it. He also flies to resort towns in Europe supposedly for the purpose of having them be twin cities with Dibley. All the while he neglects actually attending to the needs of Dibley's citizens - he promises buses for Dibley so he can get reelected, but he denies having funding the moment he's back in power. None of this is ever mentioned again after "Election", though.
- Deadpan Snarker: The most Deadpan in the village.
- Defrosting Ice King: He seems to begin defrosting at the end of the first series.
- Doting Grandparent: Though he was implied to be verbally abusive to Hugo, he adores Baby Geraldine. In fact, he initially is pleased that Dibley being turned into a reservoir means he won't have to deal with Alice anymore, until she laments he won't be able to see his granddaughter either and David is visibly distressed at the thought.
- Fiction 500: In the episode where he tries to marry Geraldine, it comes out that he's worth £5 million (about US$8.1 million at time of airing).
- Jerkass: At the beginning he's a close-minded, imperious jerk who constantly clashes with Geraldine.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eventually. He never completely loses his mean streak, but he becomes much more empathetic and decent.
- Money Fetish: He's already disgustingly wealthy (worth five million pounds) and never loses an opportunity to make more. When the water company wants to buy out the village, Hugo reports that David was dancing around singing "Money money money!"
- Not So Above It All: Despite his competence and haughty bearing, David accidentally lets slip his crushes on Princess Anne and Melinda Messenger on different occasions, to howls of derisive laughter.
- Only Sane Man: He's probably the least insane person in the village before Geraldine arrives.
- Parental Marriage Veto: Tries to invoke this by threatening to cut Hugo out of his will if he marries Alice, leaving him with nothing. But Hugo takes one look at the new document and says that he'll have everything in the world that he desires.
- Rousing Speech: When he finally realizes how terrible it would be if the water company turned Dibley into a reservoir:"This other Eden! Demi-paradise! This blessed plot! This earth! This realm! This Dibley!"
- Small Name, Big Ego: He has dedicated multiple monuments in Dibley to his own name. But to be fair, some of them are just dedicated to his predecessor on the Parish Council: David Horton.
- Smug Snake: In the early days, when he was hell-bent on finding ways to get rid of Geraldine.
Alice Tinker Horton (Emma Chambers)
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: So. Very. Much.
- The Comically Serious: Alice's reaction to some of Geraldine's jokes at the end of each episode.
- Conspiracy Theorist:
- She really can't believe "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" (or its generic imitation, "I Can't Believe It's Not 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter'") is not butter... and there may be a lot more butter around than anyone realizes.
- She thinks that she is the descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
- The Ditz: She's incredibly gullible and can't seem to work out the difference between fiction and reality, to Geraldine's continual frustration.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Sometimes with the post-credit joke, Alice will sort of comprehend the humor but pull it apart until it's not funny, or informs Geraldine that it can't be a joke because it didn't make Alice laugh.
- Dumb Blonde: When she announces her plan to beat David in the town trivia quiz, Geraldine assumes that she's joking.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Alice's full name is Alice Springs Tinker. Subverted, in that she completely fails to understand why her middle name might be slightly embarrassing.
- Endearingly Dorky: A huge fan of Doctor Who and The Wombles, adorably awkward around Hugo before they get married, and despite her total lack of brain, is a very sweet person.
- Genki Girl
- Happily Married: To Hugo Horton.
- Hidden Depths: It's revealed in one episode that she speaks Hebrew fluently.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: She is probably the most innocent person in the village.
- The Ingenue
- Killed Offscreen: Revealed in "The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown" to have passed away,
due to the death of her actress Emma Chambers in 2018. - Kissing Cousins: Hugo is her second cousin once removed.
- Pair the Dumb Ones: Alice is not only stupid, but at times struggles to tell reality from fiction. She ends up with Upper-Class Twit Hugo Horton, who is just a little more sensible and rational than her. The two end up Happily Married with lots of children. Geraldine outright lampshades their perfect for each other, as they both have the intellect of a Cactus and are stupid even by Dibley standards.
- Serious Business: In one of the stingers she tells Geraldine she should be ashamed of herself for telling a Black Comedy Rape joke with Superman as the aggressor.
- Sustained Misunderstanding: Every time Geraldine tries to explain something to her, like that Uncle Bulgaria wasn't real. First she thinks Geraldine means he was gay, and then dead.
- Womanchild: She still believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the fiction that her budgie, Carrot, keeps coming back to life while looking completely different each time.
Hugo Horton (James Fleet)
- Birds of a Feather: With Alice. As Geraldine notes, Alice may have the wit and intelligence of a cactus, but Hugo is "cactus-man."
- Buffy Speak: "Yes, Father, everyone's fed up to the teeth with you shouting at them all the time! Like some big, bald, shouty-type person...."
- Calling the Old Man Out: First he calls out David for being childish and spitefully trying to get Geraldine sacked over the animal mass. And then there's the episode where David tries to invoke the Parental Marriage Veto...David: And as this will attests, you will have nothing! [thrusts paper at Hugo]
Hugo: [looks at paper and hands it back] On the contrary, sir, I will have everything in the world that I desire. - Covert Pervert: He's a nice guy, and acts nothing like Owen and Jim do, but when it comes time for Lent, he confesses to the Vicar that he often thinks about "It" and decides to give up thinking about "It" or else he must pay up a small price. Alice's Innocent Innuendos do not help his situation.
- The Ditz: Because of this Hugo and Alice are perfect for each other.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: David constantly belittled and shouted at Hugo, and openly laments not using contraception in front of him.
- Kissing Cousins: Alice is his second cousin once removed.
- Manchild: Not as much of one as Alice, but he still tends to act more like a timid schoolboy than a man in his thirties.
- Nice Guy: Really one of the sweetest people in the village. He accepts Geraldine right away.
- The Nicknamer: He calls Geraldine "Mrs. God" quite often, and occasionally "Mr. Spock."
Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd-Pack)
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Geraldine from the second season onward.
- All Men Are Perverts: He's probably the worse one between himself and Jim. After proposing to (and being rejected) by Geraldine, he continues to make lewd comments about her at the slightest provocation.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: He is open and shameless about his
"relationships" with animals. We'll leave it at that. - Big, Screwed-Up Family: Several of his relatives have committed suicide or murder, and his grandfather murdered his grandmother and hid her under the floorboards.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He's a crude serial flirt towards Geraldine, but he leaps to her defense against David when she dates Simon Horton, arguing that as long as she's discreet, she's got just as much right to a sex life as anyone else does, vicar or not. "Though I wouldn't mind a few Polaroids."
- Dirty Old Man: Not as old as Jim, but still qualifies.
- Hidden Depths: He makes the cut for the church choir after it is revealed that he has a gifted operatic singing voice.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being the rudest and crudest member of the village council, he's one of Geraldine's most genuine supporters when push comes to shove, inappropriate flirting aside.
- Kissing Cousins: He's the father of one of his cousin Sally's three children (the other two were fathered by Jim and Frank).
- Pet the Dog: In the first episode, he refuses to be railroaded by David's letter to the bishop and insists on voting that Geraldine be given a chance.
- The Pig-Pen: Has little to no sense of personal hygiene. He doesn't even have a bath in his house.
- Sir Swears Alot: Gets rather creative with it too. He has to give it up for Lent and just empties his wallet into the box while having one last good cursing.
Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock)
- Catchphrase: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes."
- Citizenship Marriage: At one time in his life he got married on a beach in Southeast Asia and only learned on the honeymoon that it was a bloke called Dwayne after a passport. (They still "more than snogged" though.)
- Confusing Multiple Negatives: A man trying to park his car during the town fair comes up to him while he's doing P.A. announcements asking for clarification whether he is or is not supposed to park in the upper field, having mistaken "No, no, no, no, no parking on the upper field" for self-negating negatives. Regular viewers will know by now that the last word of Jim's Verbal Tic is the one he actually means: you don't count and multiply them.
- Dirty Old Man: He makes frequent references to his love of porn and sexual (mis)adventures.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Frank. They make sure to remind Geraldine how platonic it is when they invite her to Christmas lunch.
- Hopeless with Tech: He complains that his VCR won't work. He plugged it into the radio.
- Kavorka Man: Manages to attract the attention of two Swedish journalist women in one episode!
- Really Gets Around: Has no issue with being polygamous, even though he is married.
- Verbal Tic:
- Again, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes."
- His wife's tic is, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no."
Frank Pickle (John Bluthal)
- Ambiguously Bi: Before coming out as gay (revealing that he has known he is gay since World War II), Frank is revealed to have fathered a child with Owen's cousin Sally, and confesses to a crush on politician Margaret Beckett.
- The Bore: Frank is this to a T. His idea of an act at the Dibley talent night is to do an impression of his first cousin (before and after tonsillectomy), and he is routinely described as being a pedantic old fart.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: Apparently, listening to his extremely boring stories will eventually be this. He's accused of boring his own parents to death and when he substitutes for Geraldine in "Autumn" four members of the congregation actually die during his sermon."That was never proved."
- Late Coming Out: He is clearly in his sixties when he comes out as gay.
- Odd Friendship: He's close to Alice and gives her away at her wedding (with a big sign on his back to note that he's not actually her father).
Letitia Cropley (Liz Smith)
- Cool Old Lady
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Otherwise known as the "The Queen of Cordon Bleurgh", she is the Trope Namer. She can cook edible food, as she shows during Lent. It's just that, for unfathomable reasons, she decides that putting ketchup on a lovely chocolate cake or liver and chocolate on a sandwich is a good idea.
- Dirty Old Woman: She has her moments.
- Forgetful Jones: She has a tendency to forget whatever she has said a moment prior. It especially comes into play in her last request to Geraldine... and everyone else on the Parish Council.
- I Was Quite a Looker: As a former "corker," she gives this advice to a young woman:"Snog everyone! Sleep with most. I didn't, and I've been regretting it ever since!"
- Really Gets Around: According to Jim, Frank and Owen, she was rather "rampant" as a young woman.
- Take Up My Sword: Her last request to Geraldine is to take up her duties as Dibley's Easter Bunny... this is also her last request to all the other members of the ensemble except Alice. Hilarity Ensues.
