Father Ted

*Father Ted*
Father Ted
	Screenshot from opening credits
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Graham Linehan; Arthur Mathews;
Written by	Graham Linehan; Arthur Mathews;
Directed by	Declan Lowney; Graham Linehan; Andy De Emmony;
Starring	Dermot Morgan; Ardal O'Hanlon; Frank Kelly; Pauline McLynn;
Opening theme	"Songs of Love" (instrumental)
Composer	The Divine Comedy
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	25 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Mary Bell
Producers	Geoffrey Perkins; Lissa Evans;
Production locations	The London Studios; County Clare;
Cinematography	Eugene O'Connor
Camera setup	Multiple-camera
Running time	23–25 minutes ; 55 minutes (Christmas Special)
Production company	Hat Trick Productions
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	21 April 1995 –; 1 May 1998
	Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Father Ted is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including a Christmas special, for a total of 25 episodes. It aired on Nine Network (series 1) and ABC Television (series 2 and 3) in Australia, and on TV2 in New Zealand.

Set on the fictional Craggy Island, a remote location off Ireland's west coast, Father Ted stars Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly, alongside fellow priests Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O'Hanlon) and Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly). Dishonourably exiled on the island by Bishop Leonard Brennan (Jim Norton) for various reasons, the priests live together in the parochial house with their housekeeper Mrs Doyle (Pauline McLynn). The show subverts parodies of low-brow humour as it portrays nuanced themes of loneliness, agnosticism, existentialism and purgatory experienced by its title character; this deeper meaning of the show has been much acclaimed.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Father Ted won several British Academy Television Awards—including twice for Best Comedy Series, and remains a popular sitcom in Ireland and the UK. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Dougal was ranked fifth on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.^[4] In 2019, Father Ted was named the second-greatest British sitcom (after Fawlty Towers) by a panel of comedy experts for Radio Times.^[5]

^ McGonigle, Lisa (30 June 2012). ""Doesn't Mary Have a Lovely Bottom?": Gender, Sexuality and Catholic Ideology in Father Ted". Études irlandaises (37–1): 89–102. doi:10.4000/etudesirlandaises.2999. ISSN 0183-973X.
^ Power, Ed. "Careful now: Will we ever stop talking about Father Ted?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^ "Ardal O'Hanlon: 'Comedy never used to be a career – it was for slackers with ukuleles'". The Guardian. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^ "100 Greatest TV Characters". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ “Fawlty Towers and Father Ted top list of Britain's favourite sitcoms”. ITV. Retrieved 24 May 2019

[1] McGonigle, Lisa (30 June 2012). ""Doesn't Mary Have a Lovely Bottom?": Gender, Sexuality and Catholic Ideology in Father Ted". Études irlandaises (37–1): 89–102. doi:10.4000/etudesirlandaises.2999. ISSN 0183-973X.

[2] Power, Ed. "Careful now: Will we ever stop talking about Father Ted?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 December 2021.

[3] "Ardal O'Hanlon: 'Comedy never used to be a career – it was for slackers with ukuleles'". The Guardian. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2021.

[GreatestTVcharacters-4] "100 Greatest TV Characters". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[5] “Fawlty Towers and Father Ted top list of Britain's favourite sitcoms”. ITV. Retrieved 24 May 2019

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