The Vicar Of Dibley is to return to TV screens for a one-off comeback which will feature Homeland star Damian Lewis as a man of the cloth.

Dawn French will star in a new sketch to be screened during Comic Relief, reviving her role of Geraldine Granger as the cast are reunited for the first time in seven years.

She will also be delivering Radio 2's daily Pause For Thought religious slot as the character during the Chris Evans breakfast show earlier in the day.

The new 10-minute Vicar Of Dibley sketch, written by Richard Curtis, is to be screened during BBC1's Comic Relief - Funny For Money broadcast on Friday.

It sees Geraldine and her parishioners - including regular faces such as actors James Fleet (who plays Hugo Horton) and Roger Lloyd-Pack (Owen Newitt) - heading to London on a mission, where they meet a charming vicar played by Lewis.

Dawn said: "It's the first time we've been together for ages, so everyone can witness the rapid deterioration of us all - since we last saw the Vicar and her parish members, the astonishing and shocking amount of decay is alarming.

"I don't want to give too much away about the sketch but the Vicar heads up the fight for equality in church law."

Damian said: "Richard Curtis has done a brilliant thing in getting all the cast back together. It's very funny and anyone who loves the Vicar Of Dibley is just going to have a riot with this."