Fathers Ted and Dougal have already proven their musical prowess with their deathless Eurovison entry My Lovely Horse but now one of Father Ted's co-creators has said that he has thought of doing a full musical of the classic sitcom.
Graham Linehan, who co-wrote the show with Arthur Matthews, has said that he could revive Father Ted on stage as a musical adaptation.
Speaking to The Sunday Business Post, he said: “I think if you look at something like the South Park boys and the Book of Mormon, that’s pretty hardcore and I think there is an argument you could make a Ted musical where you really go for the jugular and you get all the things people loved about it, all the innocence and all the sweetness, but introduce a harder edge.
He added: "Because it’s such a special event, it would have to be about something that’s kind of world-shaking. It would have to be about Ted becoming Pope, or some weird succession thing that means Ted’s next in line. It would have to be substantial and big.”
Linehan, who also wrote The IT Crowd, Black Books, and short-lived RTÉ/BBC sitcom The Walshes, has one particular scene in mind when it comes to the possibility of a Father Ted musical. “The only thing that’s stuck in my head is a dance sequence in the Vatican with spinning cardinals. I can see that quite clearly.”
Linehan is currently working on a six-part series of Motherland with Catastrophe star and co-writer Sharon Horgan and English comedian Holly Walsh.
The show, which is based on an idea by Linehan's wife Helen, is based on the comical aspects of parenting and has been commissioned for a full run by BBC2.
Motherland received favourable reviews for its pilot episode last September and the new six-episode run will see Anna Maxwell-Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch and Paul Ready reprise their roles.
