IT'S hard to believe that it was 21 years ago that Dawn French first arrived as Geraldine Granger in the BBC TV series the Vicar of Dibley created by Richard Curtis.

But this loveable character now lives again in a stage version of the show adapted and written by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter taking ideas from stories in the first two series.

It all begins with the arrival of the new vicar in the quaint and rather staid village of Dibley. The action begins with the stunned reaction of the parish council, ‘You were expecting a bloke, beard, bible that sort of thing’, and finishes with a very special wedding.

The Pump House Theatre Company will be creating the two most well-known settings in the series, Geraldine’s cosy cottage living room and the parish council meeting room, as all the favourite characters from the sitcom come together to discuss everything from the naming of roads to the use of marmalade in the village play.

In between the chocoholic, vivacious and irrepressible Geraldine attempts to win over the slightly insane inhabitants of Dibley.

The comedy rolls out as she endeavours to steer a steady pastoral path through the pitfalls of village politics and broken hearts.

Pump House Theatre, Local Board Road, Watford, Monday, November 23 to Saturday, November 28, various times. Details: 0844 8700 887, ticketsource.co.uk