Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Fantastic!

Am I Missing Something?

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

There have been many sitcoms over the years with a religious theme - 'All Gas & Gaiters', 'Oh Brother!' ( which was followed by 'Oh Father!' ), 'Our Man At St. Mark's', 'All In Good Faith', 'Bless Me Father' and 'The Vicar Of Dibley'. 'Father Ted', in my view, wipes the floor with all of them.Father Ted Crilly is a priest who is banished to the desolate Parochial House in Craggy Island, off the Irish coast, for stealing charity money ( which he claims was 'just resting in his account!' ). Also living with him are Father Dougal MacGuire ( who is sent there following what is only known as 'the black rock incident'! ), a man so dense as to make Homer Simpson look like Sigmund Freud and Father Jack Hackett ( who is sent there following the unknown events of a wedding he performed in Athlone ), a cantankerous old git whose is interested mainly in women and alcohol. Their mad housekeeper is Mrs. Doyle who is always seen supplying the priests with endless cups of tea, whether they want it or not.Other characters appeared from time to time including Ted's arch nemesis and rival priest Father Dick Byrne ( Maurice O'Donoughue ), bickering shopkeeping couple John ( Patrick Drury ) and Mary ( Rynagh O'Grady ), grotesque village idiot Tom ( Pat Shortt ) and fearsome Bishop Len Brennan ( Jim Norton ).'Father Ted' is a prime contender for the comedy hall of fame. Every episode is intelligently written ( though there is a fair share of slapstick on display as well ) and the fine cast - Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly and Pauline McLynn - do the wonderful scripts more than justice. Like Dave Allen's comedy shows, 'Father Ted' attracted criticism in some quarters for its bashing of the Catholic church, though nationwide popularity defied all odds. Among my favourite episodes were the appropriately named 'Speed 3' ( a milkman exacts revenge on Ted and Dougal after they cause him to lose his job ), 'Song For Europe' ( home of the hilarious 'My Lovely Horse' song ), 'Flight Into Terror' ( a spoof of 'Airport '75 in which Ted endeavours to save the lives of passengers when a plane's cockpit goes into difficulty ), 'Cigarettes, Alcohol & Rollerblading' ( Ted, Dougal & Jack agree to give up their vices for Lent ), 'Entertaining Father Stone' ( the dour Father Stone makes himself an unwelcome guest in the Parochial House ), 'The Mainland' ( in which they meet Richard Wilson from 'One Foot In The Grave' ) and 'Kicking Bishop Brennan Up The Arse' ( Ted has to carry out the aforementioned task as a forfeit for cheating at a football match ).'Father Ted' ran for three series on Channel 4. Its star, Dermot Morgan, said prior to the making of the third series that it would be the last ( ''I don't want to be another Clive Dunn and go on playing the same character for years!'' he said in an interview ) but alas after completion of the final series, Morgan sadly dropped dead of a heart attack. He was 45. As a mark of respect, the first episode of series three was postponed for a week after its planned broadcast date. The final scene in the final episode in which Ted planned to commit suicide was removed in the interests of good taste and replaced with clips from the earlier series, backed up by the show's theme tune.Many of the surviving cast and crew went onto other things ( Ardal O'Hanlon went on to play George 'Thermoman' Sunday in 'My Hero' ) but 'Father Ted' remains unequalled. For those not already acquainted with it, go on, give it a go. Ah go on, go on, go on, go on.

Yes, Father Ted is my favourite TV show of all time. In the UK and Ireland we quote this show as much as the rest of the world quotes The Simpsons, with so many lines and terms from the show becoming implanted into our psyche. I've been watching Father Ted since I was kid and even though I didn't get of any of the adult jokes back then, the wacky and surreal humour always had me in fits of laughter. I don't think there's been a month in the last 17 years that I haven't watched one of its 25 episodes, yet I still can't pick a favourite!Every joke in Father Ted works on so many levels. The setting of the fictional Craggy Island is surely the most backward ended place on Earth but this is all brilliantly downplayed. Whenever anything absurd happens, the characters react in an unsurprised or not surprised enough manner. For example, when Ted discovers Craggy Island has its own Chinatown. Just how does an island off the coast of Ireland have a significant Chinese population and how does a person living there not even know about it?! I could take any joke from this show and list on multiple levels as to why it's so absurd and surreal. The inconsistencies and even the odd plot hole just makes everything funnier.I suspect one of the reasons Father Ted became so successful is that it dispelled the notion that the Irish are completely oblivious to the outside world in the sense that the characters talk about popular culture just like people in any other civilized county would. Granted the characters in every other sense don't act like people in the real world but I believe this one aspect made the show more relatable to a wider audience, from references to bands such as Oasis and Radiohead to various film references (Dougal, we are not watching Aliens!). I'm from Ireland and even to this day I hear stories from Irish people who have gone abroad and meet people who think Ireland is technologically un-advanced country and that we all live in cottages. One story I always remember was an Irish guy telling me of how he told an American he owned an Xbox 360 and the American couldn't believe it.Allow me to hold up my cup of tea to Father Ted. May I continue to watch it for years, with Dougal and Mrs Doyle and Father Jack forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever...

When the sitcom idea to portray the adventures of three priests in Ireland - a drunk, a dimwit and the main character in between - was pitched to TV executives, the reaction was lukewarm at best. Religion, a joking matter? Impossible! But well, "The Vicar of Dibley" with comedy heavyweight Dawn French worked, so the OK was given, all doubts aside. And thus it so happened that Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers with an edge, set out to delve into the rural conservative catholic setting and run the gamut, starting from the custom sitcom weirdness to out and out absurdity in the parochial house somewhere on Craggy Island. Not with the intention to ridicule the catholic church, but to follow through with everything it has developed into, to satirize its reality and at the same time humanize its unbalanced shepherds. Interestingly, it works."Father Ted" gets off with a slow start, but once the characters and writers have hit their stride comedy-wise, the series delivers like no other. The Fathers Ted (Dermot Morgan), Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon), Hackett (Frank Kelly) and Mrs. Doyle (Pauline McLynn) stumble from one farcical situation into another and the punch lines get sharper and wittier the longer the journey lasts. There's slapstick, well timed cartoonish back and forth, strong language and directness thanks to the naivety of the characters, yes, there's even cursing among priests and still it's entirely inconspicuous thanks to the changing of a vowel. And we get subversive social commentary served the fun way and it's, pardon the pun, a hell of a ride. If you book your trip to Craggy island you'll witness priests struggling through lent, have a crush on a lady visitor, go on a disastrous unholy holiday, turn into racists by trying to demonstrate the exact opposite and help to heal a depressed sheep. You can learn from priests how to get people to watch a raunchy movie thanks to their campaign against it, or how to kick a bishop up the arse - just pretend it never happened. Intrigued? Then off you go to visit undiscovered land in this highly original, creative, addictive and outright hilarious sitcom, a comedy milestone that will last for ages.

I didn't think it was up to much when I first saw this series but then again I was in a house full of people. Then I sat down one day and watched "Plague" on my own. Most peculiar! I thought the show merited further investigation. I then saw "Speed 3" and that put the lid on it. I now own every episode. Most definitely one of the most surreal and hilarious shows of all time. It's funny on so many levels from the subtle to the outright obvious. We shall never see its like again! If Dermot hadn't died I have no doubt that it would have become a successful series of films. The best thing to come from Ireland, ever! (even better than the whisky, and that's heaven-sent!) Like a good whisky it can be savoured again and again and still doesn't lose its flavour. I teach English as a foreign Language and I cannot recommend Father Ted enough as a video class. The students always love it. And the Spanish are also mad Catholics (no offense) who appreciate the jokes on the church, which plays such an important role in Spanish society just as it does in Ireland. It's odd that it doesn't really seem to offend the church. I suppose someone somewhere must be but I've yet to meet them. I love the Episode with "Father Ben!" I have heard that it was the top show amongst Irish priests but whether that is true only an Irish priest can confirm. Favourite moment? Just too many to say. Perhaps, as I'm an English teacher, the scene where Ted tries to teach Father Jack to say "That would be an ecumenical matter." For sheer talent and acting I think one of the most incredible and hilarious scenes is the one where the depressed priest listens to Radiohead. If that were from a film he would have been nominated for an Oscar! That's acting!