So, was Fr Ted a Drog?
HUBERT MURPHY TRACES THE STORY OF THE HILARIOUS SITCOM, CO-WRITTEN BY A BIG DROGHEDA UNITED FAN
June 1997
A SPOOF documentary about a priest who returned to the seminary were the initial jottings cobbled together by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan which spawned one of the highest rating comedies on British and Irish television.
It is the absurd ... the trivial incidents that make some people cry irreverent, but most people crease up laughing, which has been central to Father Ted’s success.
But Arthur Mathews (37), one of the award winning co-writers who is originally from Termonfeckin, and is now busy writing the third series with Dublin man Linehan, is under no illusions as to how people should interpret the ‘Craggy Island’ based comedv.
‘It’s the surreal madness of it. Three priests were interviewed by the Radio Times recently, one said he didn’t like Ballykissangel, but liked Fr. Ted. You can’t take it seriously, the only realistic character is probably Mrs. Doyle,’ he stated.
Arthur was an only son, reared on the Strand Road in Termonfeckin, attending the local national school, and later moving to Dublin where he attended secondary school. His sister Rita, who is banker in Dublin, still lives in the family home in Termonfeckin.
Arthur proceeded to the College of Marketing and Design, where he undertook a four-year advanced diploma in graphics, and later became a drummer with The Joshua Trio, a spoof U2 band.
His relationship with Fr. Ted co-writer Linehan was brokered through Hot Press magazine - Arthur worked in design and Graham was a journalist. The pair moved to London in 1992, and while there wrote the spoof documentary.
They sent it off to a variety of production companies, until Channel Four and London-based Hatrick Productions gave it the thumbs up and decided to make it a series. One year later, RTE snapped it up.
Mathews and Linehan were commissioned to write six episodes of the first series. Having a cast of the calibre of Ardal O’Hanlon (Fr. Dougal
Maguire), Dermot Morgan {Fr. Ted Crilly), Frank Kelly (Fr. Jack Hackett) and Pauline McLynn (housekeeper Mrs. Doyle), has been special, he says.
‘We were lucky with the cast, it was a good set up, and I think it’s quite warm, it’s not a cold show,’ says Arthur.
But the antics of the supposedly holy islanders have not met with everyone’s approval, least of all the clergy.
The series’s lovers, however, far outweigh its despisers, as Linehan and Mathews can testify as they return to the drawing board to weave a brand new series. So what’s in store for Fr. Ted fans?
Like every good writer, Arthur is reluctant to expand on the show’s contents too much, but confirms that Fr. Ted becomes embroiled in a racist controversy, while a :ompetition to rescue a sick sheep gets underway in Craggy Island.
Fr. Ted’s success achieved high-profile recognition when the series scooped a BAFTA award, with the writers receiving a Writers’ Guild award. Arthur is philosophical about the lifespan of Fr. Ted: ‘we’ll take it series by series.’
Arthur says he may visit home during the summer, and might pop into Carbaire’s pub for a pint. At present, it’s all systems go with the new series, the external shots of which are filmed in Co. Clare, and the remainder in front of an audience in London, where Arthur spends much of his time. Shooting begins early next year.