Editing Father Ted (section)

===Writing===
{{Quote box|width=250px|quoted=true|salign=right|tstyle=font-size:100%|source=—[[Arthur Mathews (writer)|Arthur Mathews]], ''[[Tom Dunne|The Tom Dunne Show]],'' 12 October 2012<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.305.359/940/blog_list/|title=Fr Ted creator talks about the time he received mass in a car|work=newstalk.ie|date=12 October 2012|access-date=25 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520071457/http://www.newstalk.ie/reader/47.305.359/940/blog_list/|archive-date=20 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>|quote = [[Graham Linehan|Graham]] spent a lot of time listening to the [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] and watching ''[[Taxi Driver]]''. When I knew him first, it was like he'd never been outside the house, except to go to see ''[[Star Wars]]'' films, so his influences were never that Irish, whereas I grew up in the country... I remember [[Frank Kelly]] and ''[[Hall's Pictorial Weekly]]''. He did a show called ''The Glen Abbey Show'', which was very funny. So I was always aware of the strangeness and madness of Irish things.}}

Linehan and Mathews first met while working at ''[[Hot Press]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Ben |title=Sunshine on Putty: The Golden Age of British Comedy from Vic Reeves to The Office |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VH_MuFWd0vMC&q=graham+linehan+%22hot+press%22+%22first+met%22&pg=PP289 |page=289 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=9780007375530 |type=eBook |access-date=22 June 2012}}</ref> In the late 1980s, Mathews, [[Paul Woodfull]] and Kieran Woodfull formed The Joshua Trio, a [[U2]] tribute band. The trio began writing comedy sketches to accompany their act. Mathews created the Father Ted character for his short-lived stand-up routine. Before The Joshua Trio played at gigs, Mathews would occasionally come on-stage as Father Ted and tell jokes involving his great friend, Father Dougal McGuire.<ref name="Independent"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/incoming/u2-beware-its-the-joshua-trio-musical-26789120.html|title=U2 beware – It's the Joshua Trio musical|date=5 November 2011|access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref>

In 1991, Mathews left his job at ''Hot Press'' and moved into Linehan's London home. Over the next three to four years, they worked on rough ideas for shows while at the same time writing for sketch shows such as ''[[The All New Alexei Sayle Show]]'' and ''[[The Fast Show]]''. One of these ideas was for a comedy mockumentary series called ''Irish Lives'', with six episodes, each focusing on a different character living somewhere in Ireland. They scripted an episode centring on a priest named Father Ted Crilly, who visits his friends in the seminary in [[St Patrick's College, Maynooth|Maynooth College]]. Producer [[Geoffrey Perkins]] suggested that the episode's concept be dramatised and rewritten as a sitcom.<ref name="Independent">{{cite web|url=http://www.irishpost.ie/index.php/component/content/article/13-entertainment-news/138-graham-linehan-father-ted-was-a-specific-kind-of-magic |title=Graham Linehan: 'Father Ted was a specific kind of magic' |last=O'Malley |first=JP |work=irishpost.ie |access-date=7 October 2012 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-arthur-mathews-and-graham-linehan-1244844.html|title=HOW WE MET: ARTHUR MATHEWS AND GRAHAM LINEHAN|last=Feay|first=Suzi|work=independent.co.uk|date=10 August 1997|access-date=7 October 2012}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=250px|quoted=true|align=left|tstyle=font-size:100%|source=—Graham Linehan, ''Small, Far Away: The World of Father Ted'', 1 January 2011<ref>{{cite news |title=Small, Far Away: The World Of Father Ted Reviews |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/small-far-away-the-world-of-father-ted/review/2000287710/ |access-date=26 September 2024 |work=TV Guide}}</ref>|quote = We wanted to make an Irish sitcom with all the insanity of ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]'', and the cleverness of ''[[Blackadder]]'', and the farce elements of ''[[Fawlty Towers]]''. These were the things that we grew up loving.}}
In the January 1994 issue of ''In Dublin'' (Vol 19, No2), Mathews and Linehan told Damian Corless, who had initially introduced the pair to each other, of their work in progress, describing Ted as "basically a nice man", Dougal as "nice but really stupid" and Jack as "a hideous creature". Linehan revealed: "They've all been sent to this isolated place called Craggy Island because they're crap priests." Mathews elaborated: "They've each a terrible secret which is why they've been banished to this place, and the terrible thing is that they can't get away from each other. Obviously it's not entirely reality-based." Mathews was originally intended to play Ted, but decided he lacked the acting ability the role required. [[Maurice O'Donoghue]], who plays Father Dick in the series, was their second choice for the role of Ted, being the right age and having a similar look and lightness. Mathews always preferred [[Dermot Morgan]]; Linehan was initially reluctant, worrying that some viewers would be confused because they already knew him as "Father Trendy", another priest character that he had played many years before on the [[RTÉ]] television show ''[[The Live Mike]]''. Morgan was very excited about the Father Ted role, and he repeatedly phoned the series creators and let them know how much he wanted it, which eventually won Linehan over because he figured that if Dermot wanted the role so badly then he would end up putting a lot of passion into doing a great job with it.<ref>Father Ted DVD commentary, season 1 episode 4</ref>

The show was pitched directly to the UK's [[Hat Trick Productions]] and Channel 4 by the duo, contrary to rumours that [[RTÉ]] (the Irish national broadcaster) were originally offered the series but rejected it.<ref>{{cite news|last=Whitaker|first=Ross|title=Issue 134 – Master of Comedy (extract)|url=http://filmireland.net/2010/10/06/issue-134-master-of-comedy/|access-date=15 February 2012|newspaper=[[Film Ireland]]|date=6 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127125600/http://filmireland.net/2010/10/06/issue-134-master-of-comedy/|archive-date=27 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Arthur|first=Charles|title=Graham Linehan: Twitter has made me|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/27/graham-linehan-twitter-has-made-me|access-date=12 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=27 May 2012}}</ref>