Father Ted 

Three misfit priests and their housekeeper live on Craggy Island, not the peaceful and quiet part of Ireland that it seems to be.

Stars:

Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly

Top Rated TV #128 | 15 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Dermot Morgan	...	Father Ted Crilly 25 episodes, 1995-1998
Ardal O'Hanlon	...	Father Dougal McGuire 25 episodes, 1995-1998
Frank Kelly	...	Father Jack Hackett 25 episodes, 1995-1998
Pauline McLynn	...	Mrs. Doyle 25 episodes, 1995-1998

Storyline

Have mercy on poor Father Ted Crilly. He has so much to contend with when it comes to dealing with the folks of Craggy Island, Ireland. There's Father Dougal McGuire, who is as dimwitted as they come; and then there is Father Jack Hackett who lives for the simple pleasures of life (sleeping, drinking, and swearing). Ted tries to bring stability to his congregation as well as the surreal townspeople of Craggy Island.

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Plot Keywords:

island | ireland | priest | housekeeper | sitcom | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Channel 4 [United Kingdom]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 1995 (UK)

Also Known As:

Otac Ted

Filming Locations:

Betchworth Quarry, Betchworth, Reigate, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel 4 Television Corporation, Hat Trick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min 50 min (1 episode)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Mrs Doyle is based on the mother of writer Graham Linehan.

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Goofs

Some of the bunnies in "The Plague" are motionless stuffed bunnies.

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Quotes

Father Jack Hackett: I'm a happy camper!

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Crazy Credits

The sixth episode of the second season begins with the usual credits, but instead of Father Ted, the title reads: Father Ben. It then cuts to Dougal sitting in front of the TV, watching Father Ben. Ted comes in and makes fun of the character of Father Ben, saying he has no self-awareness at all. It then cuts to the normal credits.

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Connections

Featured in 50 Most Shocking Comedy Moments (2006)

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Soundtracks

Songs of Love
(title music)
Written by Neil Hannon
Performed by The Divine Comedy

User Reviews

Consistently hilarious and imaginative comedy series that stands at its peak

On the small parish of Craggy Island lives a group of three priests. The head of these is the ambitious but frustrated Father Ted Crilly, a man who feels, nay, knows that he is better than his lot. His young support is Father Dougal McGuire, a man who feels confused by anything and everything; and finally the old guard Father Jack Hackett, a man who feels rage, lust or sleepy depending on how much alcohol he has managed to get down him that day. They are looked after by the persistent and serving Mrs Doyle as they try to deal with the daily problems of their parish and being a Catholic priest in general.

Although about seven years have now gone passed, Father Ted still stands up as a hilariously surreal and inventive sitcom based around the live of three priests living together. The plots range from the strange to the completely weird but generally they all work because the humour consistently comes off. It is hard to describe because it is filled with touches of genius, references that are not obvious, plots that are clever and silly and characters that are very well observed. It is certainly not the sort of sitcom that I'm used to seeing – although it does conform to a sitcom standard if you condense it right down to its base. As it is rather off the wall, it will not appeal to everybody but for those that get it the comedy is amazing consistent and I do struggle to think of an episode that I was class as "bad" across the whole run.

Although his death was very unexpected, the loss of Morgan has allowed the series to simply stop and stand up as one of those programmes that went out on a high, rather than slowly fading away (like so many do – a true class act knows when to leave). With his death the show had no choice but to end completely (as opposed to the everlasting "specials" hell suffered by things like Only Fools & Horses) as such was the reliance on the cast that nobody could really replace him. He is excellent as Ted, the more "together" character who is still all over the place and has a great sense of comic timing. He so completely gets the humour that he makes for a great lead. O'Hanlon will forever be Dougal and his career has suffered as a result – his next project (the horrible "My Hero") essentially made him a Dougal-lite to significantly less effect. Here the writing is strong though and he really works well, contrasting nicely with Ted and often being a driver for the plot. Kelly has much more of a one-note performance but is still very enjoyable as such, while McLynn was always funny despite occasionally overworking her catchphrase. The support is roundly good from the other "priests" etc brought in as the plots require.

Overall a manically imaginative comedy that conforms to the basic sitcom standards but vastly exceeds them in regards what it then does. The plots are rarely logical or sensible but within them the humour is sharp and rarely less than funny. Working with Catholic priests as its characters, the show could have just gone for easy targets but it doesn't and, although hardly respectful to the church, it is certainly not holding it up to ridicule in the same some think it is. An excellent series that deserves to continue to be seen for years and years to come.