Fiona Bruce has been one of the most recognizable faces on television for decades.
The 60-year-old TV star has been a journalist for the BBC, is the face of Antiques Roadshow and hosts political debate show Question Time.
But away from the serious world of journalism and politics, Fiona has appeared in two of the most popular British sitcoms of all time.
In 2009, he starred in The Green Green Grass, a spin-off of Only Fools and Horses, when, in the episode, he arrived with his appraisal program team.
And more than half a decade later, she appeared in a Comic Relief special of The Vicar of Dibley alongside Dawn French.
Fiona Bruce has been one of the most recognisable faces on television for decades, but she is best known for her appearances as a presenter.
He presents the BBC political programme Question Time and has to chair heated debates between politicians and members of the public.
The church comedy initially aired sporadically from 2004 to 2007 and followed the lives of the quirky residents of the small Oxfordshire town.
She returned in 2015 when lead character Geraldine Granger interviewed for the position of bishop but faced stiff competition.
Other guest stars who appeared as candidates included One Foot In the Grave star Annette Crosbie, Gavin and Stacey actress Ruth Jones, and Dawn’s writing partner Jennifer Saunders.
Harry Potter star Emma Watson is also in the running, but Dibley residents wrongly assumed Geraldine had landed the job and recruited Fiona Bruce to become their new vicar.
When Geraldine returns to the village, she meets Fiona and promptly punches her in the face after realizing that she is now unemployed.
Fiona admitted shortly after airing that the confrontation wasn’t initially in the script, but was an idea Dawn had just before cameras started rolling.
She told the Radio Times: ‘The punch wasn’t in the script, but when we were rehearsing it, Dawn said: ‘Surely at this point I’d be so angry I’d hit her.’
“Richard Curtis (who created the show) told him to try it, but every time he did it, he made me laugh. He couldn’t keep a straight face.”
Fiona is also the face of Antiques Roadshow for the BBC, but has not done much acting in her on-screen career.
Dawn French played Geraldine Granger in the BBC’s Vicar Of Dibley from 1994 to 2007 and the show returned in 2015 for Comic Relief.
A turmoil in the village prompts the residents to recruit Fiona Bruce to take Geraldine’s place as vicar.
When Geraldine returns to the village, she meets Fiona and promptly punches her in the face after realizing that she is now unemployed.
The cast of The Vicar of Dibley, pictured from left: John Bluthal, James Fleet, Dawn French, Emma Chambers, Gary Waldhorn, Roger Lloyd Pack and Trevor Peacock
Following that special, The Vicar Of Dibley returned once again for a series of quarantine specials.
But by then, Emma Chambers, who played the dim-witted Alice Tinker, had died, as had Roger Lloyd Pack, who played farmer Owen Newitt.
John Bluthal, who played parish council minute-taker Frank Pickle, died in 2018 at the age of 89 and Jim Trott actor Trevor Peacock died in 2021.
Following the death of Gary Waldhorn, who played Councilman David Horton, in 2022, James Fleet (Hugo Horton) and Dawn became the only surviving main cast members of the show.
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