Mini-episode for Red Nose Day

The Vicar of Dibley is to return for the first time in seven years – for a new Comic Relief special.

Homeland actor Damien Lewis is to make a guest appearance in the ten-minute mini-episode, which will air tomorrow night.

Star Dawn French said joked about the ‘alarming amount of decay’ the cast had suffered since the last episode.

‘Viewers should watch this sketch because it's the first time we've been together for ages,’ she said. ‘So everyone can witness the rapid deterioration of us all.’

The script involves the Vicar and her parishioners heading to London on a mission to fight for equality in church law, the BBC says.

Fellow cast member Roger Lloyd-Pack said: ‘I doubt we're going to do any more of them . For those people who like the Vicar of Dibley sketches, it's probably the last chance they'll get to see a new episode.’

However, last year French hinted that the series could return with a new relevance if the Church of England allows the ordination of women bishops.

Dibley creator Richard Curtis is the key player behind Red Nose Day, which will also see the return of David Brent in The Office.

French's vicar will also be delivering the Pause for Thought slot on Chris Evans's Radio 2 breakfast show tomorrow, as she and Jennifer Saunders ‘hijack’ the station’s schedules.

It has also been revealed that Peter Kay has made a video for James hit Sit Down, which will also be released for the charity.

Last month, Chortle reported how he was filming scenes sitting on a red sofa. They were for a joke challenge, in which he is pulled the length and breadth of the UK in on a settee in parody of the physically demanding challenges the likes of John Bishop and David Walliams have previously undertaken for the charity.

Published: 14 Mar 2013