Good Luck, Father Ted is the series premiere of Father Ted.
Synopsis[]
Father Dougal and Jack visit a Craggy Island fair filled with odd attractions, while Father Ted secretly tries to have a TV interview with "Faith Of Our Fathers".
Story[]
The episode opens with priest Ted Crilly writing up a list of who will do that weekend's masses and asking fellow priest Jack Hackett, only for the latter to glare back at him, which leaves Ted no choice but to do them himself. Fellow priest Dougal McGuire enters the room with shaving foam on his face - not just part of it but the entire face. After being told about this by Ted, Dougal looks in the mirror and says he did not even shave that morning.
He tries to tempt Ted with the idea of going to local (but notoriously bad) fun fair 'Funland' later that week by telling him about the 'Spider Baby' - something that the mind of a baby but the body of a spider. Ted tells Dougal that he may be mixing up dreams and reality again. Dougal checks what is on TV, only for it be destroyed with a bottle thrown by Jack. Ted then gets a phone call from a man named Terry McNamee, who wants to feature him on his show Faith of Our Fathers. Ted agrees to it, adding that he is the only priest on the island.
A few days later, Terry McNamee and the crew members arrive on the island and Ted tells he will meet them at The Field. He advises them to get help from Tom, the local crazy guy, who shows them his scar. The Field is the least rocky place on the island and following Ted getting Dougal and Jack to go out on a walk, a shocked Ted arrives to find that Funland has set up camp there. After having a chat with Tom and then John and Mary O'Leary, a married couple who own the local newsagents and who clearly hate one another but put on a united front whenever they encounter Ted and Dougal, he is dismayed to discover Dougal and Jack riding the fun fair's poor excuse for a Merry-Go-Round.
Having failed to tell Dougal to take Jack home, the hapless priest convinces the former to have a tarot reading. However, Ted does not reveal why he is really there and is worried when the tarot reader produces three "Death" cards. Following this, Jack goes missing and Ted searches for him until he finds the latter on a seemingly innocent bench. However, it turns out to be part of a ride called "The Crane of Death", which lifts the priests high into the air. Terry McNamee and his crew find Dougal and mistake him for Ted, who had told him that he was the only priest on the island. Ted sees this development and tries to find a way to get down, only to be sent plummeting when the bench starts shaking due to Jack's angry demands for a drink.
That evening, the interview with "Father Ted Crilly" is broadcast on the now-repaired TV. As Dougal talks about how he does not believe in God, organised religion and his belief in the mysterious Spider Baby, a heavily bandaged Ted moans while a gleeful Dougal reacts to him. Jack awakens and angrily throws another empty bottle at the TV.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Dermot Morgan as Ted Crilly
- Ardal O'Hanlon as Dougal McGuire
- Frank Kelly as Jack Hackett
- Pauline McLynn as Mrs. Doyle
Guest Cast[]
- Gerard Lee as Terry MacNamee
- Pat Shortt as Tom
- Noelle Brown as Teaching Nun
- Blanaid Irvine as Tarot Reader
- Rynagh O'Grady as Mary O'Leary
- Patrick Drury as John O'Leary
Trivia[]
- After the broadcast of the first episode, Channel 4 received just two complaints: one criticizing it for being too anti-Catholic Church, and the other criticizing it for being too pro-Catholic Church.
- 'Funland' is a parody of the popular Irish theme park 'Funderland'.
Production[]
- 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 this episode 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]
- The scenes at Funland were filmed in the Phoenix Park in Dublin as when Ted Crilly is chatting with John and Mary O'Leary the Wellington Monument can be seen in the background. The sea was digitally added.
References[]
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