Editing Father Ted (section)

{{Short description|British-produced sitcom set in Ireland (1995–1998)}}
{{About|the sitcom|the character|Father Ted Crilly}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image              = Father Ted.jpg
| alt                = Series title over the sea
| caption            = Screenshot from opening credits
| genre              = [[Sitcom]]
| creator            = {{Plainlist |
* [[Graham Linehan]]
* [[Arthur Mathews (writer)|Arthur Mathews]]
}}
| writer             = {{Plainlist |
* Graham Linehan
* Arthur Mathews
}}
| director           = {{Plainlist |
* [[Declan Lowney]]
* Graham Linehan
* [[Andy De Emmony]]
}}
| starring           = {{Plainlist |
* [[Dermot Morgan]]
* [[Ardal O'Hanlon]]
* [[Frank Kelly]]
* [[Pauline McLynn]]
}}
| opentheme          = "Songs of Love" (instrumental)
| composer           = [[The Divine Comedy (band)|The Divine Comedy]]
| country            = United Kingdom<!---Per the talk page, the country is determined by that of the producers, which is the United Kingdom, not the Republic of Ireland. Please do not change without discussion.--->
| first_aired        = {{Start date|1995|04|21|df=y}}
| last_aired         = {{End date|1998|05|01|df=y}}
| num_series         = 3
| num_episodes       = 25
| list_episodes      = List of Father Ted episodes
| executive_producer = Mary Bell
| producer           = {{Plainlist |
* [[Geoffrey Perkins]]
* [[Lissa Evans]]
}}
| location           = {{Plainlist |
* [[The London Studios]]
* [[County Clare]]
}}
| cinematography     = Eugene O'Connor
| camera             = [[Multiple-camera setup|Multiple-camera]]
| runtime            = 23–25 minutes <br /> 55 minutes (Christmas Special)
| company            = [[Hat Trick Productions]]
| language           = English
| network            = [[Channel 4]]
}}

'''''Father Ted''''' is a [[sitcom]] created by Irish writers [[Graham Linehan]] and [[Arthur Mathews (writer)|Arthur Mathews]] and produced by British production company [[Hat Trick Productions]] for British television channel [[Channel 4]]. <!---Do not categorise this series by nationality.---> It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including a Christmas special, for a total of [[List of Father Ted episodes|25 episodes]]. It aired on [[Nine Network]] (series 1) and [[ABC Television (Australian TV network)|ABC Television]] (series 2 and 3) in Australia, and on [[TV2 (New Zealand)|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 (Irish actor)|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 comedy|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McGonigle|first=Lisa|date=2012-06-30|title="Doesn't Mary Have a Lovely Bottom?": Gender, Sexuality and Catholic Ideology in Father Ted|url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/2999|journal=Études irlandaises|language=en|issue=37–1|pages=89–102|doi=10.4000/etudesirlandaises.2999|issn=0183-973X|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Power|first=Ed|title=Careful now: Will we ever stop talking about Father Ted?|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/careful-now-will-we-ever-stop-talking-about-father-ted-1.3357384|access-date=2021-12-06|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-29|title=Ardal O'Hanlon: 'Comedy never used to be a career – it was for slackers with ukuleles'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/oct/29/ardal-ohanlon-interview-father-ted-death-in-paradise-standup-comedy-tour|access-date=2021-12-06|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

''Father Ted'' won several [[British Academy Television Awards]]—including twice for [[British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series)|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 series)|100 Greatest TV Characters]].<ref name="GreatestTVcharacters">{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/tv_characters/results.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531160558/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/tv_characters/results.html |archive-date=31 May 2009 |title=100 Greatest TV Characters |access-date=26 May 2019 |publisher=[[Channel 4]]}}</ref> In 2019, ''Father Ted'' was named the second-greatest British sitcom (after ''[[Fawlty Towers]])'' by a panel of comedy experts for ''[[Radio Times]]''.<ref>[https://www.itv.com/news/2019-04-09/fawlty-towers-and-father-ted-top-list-of-britains-favourite-sitcoms/ “Fawlty Towers and Father Ted top list of Britain's favourite sitcoms”]. ITV. Retrieved 24 May 2019</ref>