Almost as many see Dibley rerun

The British Comedy Awards was almost beaten by a re-run of The Vicar of Dibley in Saturday's TV ratings.

According to unofficial overnight figures, the awards bash was watched by 6 million people - or 30 per cent of the viewing public ­ on ITV1

But the Dawn French sitcom attracted 5.9 million viewers on BBC1, even though it was a repeat of a previous festive audience.

Last year, the ceremony was seen by 7.5million viewers, MediaGuardian.co.uk reports.

Published: 17 Dec 2001