| "Good Luck, Father Ted" | |
|---|---|
| Father Ted episode | |
 Jack and Dougal ride the Whirly-go-round | |
| Episode no. | Series 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Declan Lowney |
| Written by | |
| Featured music | The Divine Comedy |
| Original air date | 21 April 1995 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Good Luck, Father Ted" is the first episode to be aired of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted . It first aired in the United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland on 21 April 1995.
Ted is contacted by a producer from Tele Éireann television programme, Faith of our Fathers, requesting to interview Ted as a priest who works in a remote area. Ted is elated to be asked, but as he fears that his fellow priests Dougal and Jack would embarrass him, he tells the producer that he is the only priest on Craggy Island, and arranges to meet the television reporter at "The Field", one of the least-rocky areas on the island.
As the day of the interview arrives, Dougal is excited about attending "Funland", a funfair that has been set up on "The Field". Ted tells Dougal to take Jack in his wheelchair for a walk along the cliffs while he goes to meet the reporter at the fair; however, Dougal and Jack soon appear at the fair, Dougal claiming that the cliffs were "closed" and "gone" due to erosion as an excuse to attend the fair. Ted, who has yet to meet the reporter, unsuccessfully tries to usher Dougal and Jack away. Jack soon takes off on his own while Dougal is distracted, and Ted is forced to look for him, finding him asleep on a park bench. Ted sits down with him, but is too late as he discovers that the bench is part of the "Crane of Death" ride, and is lifted high into the air. From his vantage point, Ted sees that Dougal has been found by the television reporter, and since Ted said he was the only priest on the island, the reporter mistakes Dougal for Ted. In his lament, Ted falls off the bench to the ground.
Later, a heavily bandaged Ted watches the television interview along with Dougal, Jack and Mrs Doyle at the parochial house. Ted cringes as, during the interview, Dougal talks about his doubts about Christianity and organised religion, while the on-screen caption reads "Father Ted Crilly". Jack sees Dougal on the TV set and angrily hurls a whiskey bottle at it, something he had already done earlier in the episode.
While this was the first Father Ted episode broadcast, it was not always intended to be; the writers originally planned to air "The Passion of Saint Tibulus" first, but later decided that "'Good Luck, Father Ted'" would make a better introduction. Linehan makes a non-speaking cameo appearance, goading the "fierce man" on the stepladder at Funland. Mathews also makes a cameo as the voice on the Funland intercom; the voice Mathews adopts here is the one he used while playing "Father Ted" in a stand-up routine he performed prior to the series's creation. [1]
Father Ted is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for 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 and ABC Television in Australia, and on TV2 in New Zealand.
Father Dougal McGuire is a character in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. Created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, Dougal was portrayed by comedian Ardal O'Hanlon for the programme's three series. The character is a childlike, simple-minded Roman Catholic curate exiled to Craggy Island, a small island off the coast of Galway.
Father Ted Crilly is the eponymous main character of the British Channel 4 situation comedy Father Ted. Created by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, Ted was portrayed by comedian Dermot Morgan for the programme's three series. The character is a morally dubious Roman Catholic priest exiled to Craggy Island, a small island off the coast of Galway in Ireland.
"Entertaining Father Stone" is the second episode of Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.
"The Passion of Saint Tibulus" is the third episode of the first series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. Originally airing in 1995, the episode was rebroadcast on BBC2 in 2008 in tribute to Geoffrey Perkins.
"Competition Time" is the fourth episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.
"And God Created Woman" is the 5th episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is named after the 1956 film And God Created Woman.
"Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading" is the eighth episode of the second series of Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the fourteenth episode overall.
"Kicking Bishop Brennan Up the Arse" is the sixth episode of the third series of the religion-themed sitcom Father Ted, and the 23rd episode overall. It originally aired on Channel 4 on 17 April 1998; its story continues from the previous episode, "Escape from Victory". In the episode, Father Ted Crilly must kick his strict and overbearing superior Bishop Brennan in the buttocks as a forfeit set in the previous episode by Father Dick Byrne for cheating at a football match.
"Going to America" is the series finale of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is the eighth episode of the third series, and the 25th episode overall. Dermot Morgan, who played the show's title character, died the day after filming was completed.
"Speed 3" is the third episode of the third series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 20th episode overall. The episode parodies the action-thriller film Speed and the sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control. "Speed 3" was written after the show's writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews asked themselves: "How can we make a worse sequel than Speed 2?" This episode was voted the fans' favourite episode on Channel 4's "Father Ted Night".
"A Christmassy Ted" is both the 17th episode overall of and a Christmas special for the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. This episode was broadcast between the second and third series. It is 55 minutes long, as opposed to the usual 21–22 mins of all other episodes in the series. It was aired on Christmas Eve 1996, seven months after the second series had ended. Due to the popularity of this episode, it still gets repeated on Channel 4, RTÉ Two and More4 around Christmas every year. This was the last episode of Father Ted to be broadcast during the lifetime of Dermot Morgan, who played the series' titular priest, Father Ted Crilly – Morgan died suddenly of a heart attack in February 1998, on the day after completion of the filming of series three, meaning that the entire third series was broadcast only after his death.
Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest is the sixth episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the season one finale. It was the first episode to be scripted and submitted by the writers.
"Hell" is the first episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, and the seventh episode overall.
"The Mainland" is the fourth episode of the third series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 21st episode overall. It was first broadcast on 3 April 1998.
"Think Fast, Father Ted" is the second episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. The title is a play on the novel Think Fast, Mr. Moto by John P. Marquand, and the film of the same title starring Peter Lorre.
"Old Grey Whistle Theft" is the fourth episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. The title is a pun on the BBC TV music show The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Craggy Island is a fictional island, supposedly off the west coast of Ireland, which serves as the primary setting for the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. Craggy Island Parochial House is located on the island, which is the home of three Catholic priests – Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire and Father Jack Hackett – as well as their housekeeper Mrs Doyle. It is mentioned the Irish state have given the British government permission to use the island's coast as a dumping ground for nuclear waste.