Dawn French reveals how recreating slapstick left her in agony

EXCLUSIVE: Dawn French reveals how recreating her famous Vicar of Dibley puddle plunge left her in agony for years

It’s one of the most beloved moments of sitcom slapstick – Dawn French as Vicar Geraldine Granger jumping feet-first into a hilariously deep puddle.

However an attempt to recreate the classic scene from the Vicar of Dibley led to over a decade of crippling pain and an operation, the actress has revealed.

During a one-woman show last week, Ms French, 65, told the audience: ‘One of the most enjoyable moments in my work life was being asked to jump in that puddle It seemed to tickle a few funny bones. So much so that it was repeated in another episode.

‘Honestly to this day, people still send me films of themselves jumping into puddles.’

In 2009, the producers of Paul O’Grady’s chat show asked her to stand in for him and recreate the moment to end the programme.

It’s one of the most beloved moments of sitcom slapstick – Dawn French as Vicar Geraldine Granger jumping feet-first into a hilariously deep puddle (pictured here)

However an attempt to recreate the classic scene from the Vicar of Dibley led to over a decade of crippling pain and an operation, the actress (pictured) has revealed

Describing the idea as ‘catastrophically misguided’, she added: ‘They constructed a 10ft-high hill out of scaffolding covered in AstroTurf. The idea was that there was a long enough drop for me to disappear into.

‘Then some bright spark had the idea of having a shallow silicon membrane containing two inches of water on top so that, as I jumped through, the water would splash up and look like a deep puddle.

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‘But what was I falling onto? The answer is absolutely nothing. Except for 10ft below there were two very thin crash mats in a film studio with a flat concrete floor. Any fool would know this was a disaster in the making. Any fool but me.

‘The producers took me to show me and see if I was all right with it. And I replied ‘Of course I’m all right with it, I’m British’.’

She showed the audience in Exeter on Thursday a picture of her about to jump, saying: ‘This is actually quite an emotional picture. This is the last time that my body is actually intact. This is the last time I had two functioning legs.

‘I went 10ft down and plump on to the two crash mats. One leg twisted very awkwardly underneath me and I landed very heavily. I heard the worst twanging noise you could ever imagine.

‘I knew I was in trouble but I completed the sketch. I clearly felt like I’d rather die than admit weakness.

‘The producers were asking if I was all right but I said I was fine. I drove five hours home to Cornwall trying to convince myself everything was all right but it wasn’t.’

For the following years, she walked with a cane and was in pain but in 2017 this became unbearable so she went to a surgeon.

‘I saw this wonderful guy who works with sports people. He said I needed to rest it for eight weeks. He suspected I would tell him I was going on stage that night so said he’d give me a temporary fix.

She showed the audience in Exeter on Thursday a picture of her about to jump, saying: ‘This is actually quite an emotional picture. This is the last time that my body is actually intact. This is the last time I had two functioning legs’

She said: ‘I went 10ft down and plump on to the two crash mats. One leg twisted very awkwardly underneath me and I landed very heavily. I heard the worst twanging noise you could ever imagine’

‘He said I was going to need a knee-replacement in the future. He said he’d inject me in the knee with a steroid and I could only have three of these injections.

‘The first was like a miracle but it wore off. For the next 18 months I was writing a book at home so I just dealt with the pain. The next job was in panto at the Palladium, a lot of dancing and jumping.

‘So I had the second injection. That worked a dream but it wore off and I was back to hobbling for another year and a bit.

‘Then along came comedy The Trouble with Maggie Cole [2020]. I used that last precious injection. Then it came to the Death on the Nile job [a film out in 2022], a period piece which would mean I was in heels. I was in agony and had to give in.

‘I called the surgeon to have the [knee replacement] operation. Then he told me I couldn’t have three injections in total but three a year. I could have had loads of injections for all those painful years.’ Miss French was seen walking with a decorated cane matching her floral coat in 2009, a few months after the accident.

In 2020, she told Radio Times: ‘It’s a privilege to get older. It’s not for wusses. Things go a bit wrong. Your rheumatoid arthritis knee stops you walking your dog a long way, you know you’ve got to have a little op at some point.’

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