Father Ted

Did You Know?

• Maurice O'Donoghue, who auditioned for the role of Ted, later played Father Dick Byrne, a recurring rival created specifically for him.
• Aspects of Ted's obsession with money and fantasy of going to Las Vegas emerged while writing for Dermot Morgan.

Concept and creation

During production weekends, he and Paul Woodfull developed The Joshua Trio, a comedic U2 tribute band, for which Mathews performed stand-up in character as Father Ted Crilly. In 1990, Linehan and Mathews began writing Irish Lives, a six-part mockumentary series; one episode focused on Father Ted. Producer Geoffrey Perkins asked them to discard the mockumentary format and expand the Father Ted episode into a traditional sitcom, at which point Father Dougal became a main character. The writers drew on Stan Laurel and some of Linehan's own behaviour when creating Dougal.

Production

Linehan and Mathews first met while working at Hot Press. In the late 1980s, Mathews, Paul Woodfull and Kieran Woodfull formed The Joshua Trio, a U2 tribute band, and began writing comedy sketches to accompany their act. Mathews created the Father Ted character for his short-lived stand-up routine. In 1991, Mathews moved into Linehan's London home, and over the next three to four years they worked on rough ideas while writing for sketch shows such as The All New Alexei Sayle Show and The Fast Show. One idea was Irish Lives, a mockumentary series with six episodes each focusing on a different character in Ireland. They scripted an episode about a priest named Father Ted Crilly visiting friends at Maynooth College. Producer Geoffrey Perkins suggested dramatising and rewriting the concept as a sitcom. In a January 1994 interview, Mathews and Linehan described Ted as 'basically a nice man', Dougal as 'nice but really stupid', and Jack as 'a hideous creature'. Mathews originally intended to play Ted but decided he lacked the acting ability; Maurice O'Donoghue was their second choice. Mathews always preferred Dermot Morgan; Linehan was initially reluctant because Morgan had previously played a priest character called 'Father Trendy' on The Live Mike. Morgan repeatedly phoned the creators expressing his desire for the role, which eventually won Linehan over.

Reception

Father Ted is widely considered the most beloved sitcom in Irish television history, earning critical praise and a lasting cultural footprint. The Irish media often references the show when covering political stories. It won BAFTA awards for Best Comedy in 1996 and 1999, with Morgan also taking the Best Comedy Performance prize. The British Comedy Awards gave it Best New TV Comedy in 1995, while O'Hanlon received the Top TV Comedy Newcomer Award. The following year, the show won Top Channel 4 Sitcom, and McLynn was named Top TV Comedy Actress. A 1997 award gave it Best Channel 4 Sitcom again. The British Film Institute ranked it 50th on its 2000 list of the 100 greatest British TV programmes, the highest spot for any Channel 4 production. In 2004, it placed 11th in a poll for Britain's Best Sitcom, and in 2012, Channel 4 viewers named it the network's number one comedy show. Celebrity admirers include Steven Spielberg, Liam Gallagher, Madonna, Cher, Moby, Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, Ricky Gervais, and wrestler Sheamus. Maurice Gibb was buried with the DVD box set. A 2007 dispute between Inisheer and Inishmore over which island could claim to be Craggy Island was settled by a five-a-side football match, with Inishmore winning 2–0. The Friends of Ted Festival has run annually since then. In 2020, An Post issued stamps featuring catchphrases from the series.

Derivatives

On 1 January 2011, Channel 4 dedicated a night of programmes to celebrate the show's 15th anniversary, including the documentaries 'Father Ted: Unintelligent Design' and 'Small, Far Away: The World of Father Ted'. In 2001, Pauline McLynn reprised her role as Mrs Doyle in advertisements for the UK's Inland Revenue, which was voted the year's worst advertisement in an Adwatch poll. Later in 2001, Ardal O'Hanlon returned as Father Dougal for a series of PBS advertisements; these segments were included on later DVD releases as 'Fundraising with Father Dougal'. In 2012, Frank Kelly appeared as Father Jack on an episode of The One Show with Graham Norton. In 2014, guest star Ben Keaton returned as Father Austin Purcell, performing stand-up and hosting a pub quiz in-character; in 2015 he launched the spin-off web series Cook Like a Priest. In February 2016, Over the Top Wrestling held 'Ah Ted', an event marking the anniversary of Morgan's death, during which Patrick McDonnell, Joe Rooney and Michael Redmond reprised their roles as Eoin McLove, Father Damo Lennon and Father Paul Stone. In 2017, Rooney appeared as Father Damo in the video for Brave Giant's 'The Time I Met the Devil'.