Priests of "Father Ted" Trivia Quiz

Answer:

"Father Ted" was written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, and first broadcast on Channel 4 between 1995 and 1998. The basic scenario features three incompetent priests who live together in a parochial house on the remote Craggy Island, somewhere off the west coast of Ireland.

The first of these is Father Ted Crilly, played by Dermot Morgan, who is a well-meaning but ineffectual priest who rather resents being stuck on the island. The second is Father Dougal McGuire, an incredibly dim-witted young priest played by Ardal O'Hanlon. Finally, Father Jack Hackett is a foul-mouthed alcoholic who hardly ever gets out of his armchair and is portrayed by Frank Kelly.

Bishop Len Brennan, played by Jim Norton, is the senior cleric whose bishopric includes Craggy Island. He appears in three episodes, including "The Plague", in which he is discovered to have a pathological fear of rabbits.

Appearing in four episodes, Father Dick Byrne (Maurice O'Donogue) lives on nearby Rugged Island. He is Ted's nemesis, and the running joke is that he lives with two other priests who are also a young idiot and an elderly drunk. The younger one is Father Cyril MacDuff (Don Wycherley).

Father Larry Duff, played by Tony Guilfoyle, is the subject of a running joke across several episodes in which Ted phones him up, causing some horrible disaster to befall him (driving off a cliff, trampled by a herd of donkeys, etc.).

Three appearances are made by Father Noel Furlong, played by Graham Norton in one of his earliest national TV roles. First seen in the episode "Hell", he is an irritatingly cheerful young priest who runs a youth group.

Most of the other priests on the list appear in single episodes. Father Paul Stone (Michael Redmond) is a very boring priest who comes to stay in the parochial house in the episode "Entertaining Father Stone". Father Austin Purcell (Ben Keaton) appears in the episode "Think Fast, Father Ted", where he witters on incessantly about nothing at all. Father Fintan Stack (Brendan Grace) is an even more obnoxious priest who temporarily takes Father Jack's place in "New Jack City".

Father Liam Finnegan (James Benson), known as the "Dancing Priest", appears in the episode "Think Fast, Father Ted", in which he dies of a heart attack after too much dancing. Father Fintan Fay (Jimmy Keogh) is also known as the Monkey Priest of Killybashangel and speaks in a monkey-like gibberish; he can be seen in "Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest" and "Flight into Terror". Father Damien "Damo" Lennon (Joe Rooney) is a young priest who is friends with Dougal in "The Old Grey Whistle Theft". Finally, Father Buzz Cagney (Jeff Harding) is an American priest who offers Ted a job in "Going to America".

The other priests are Mervyn Noote (Derek Nimmo) from the BBC sitcom "All Gas And Gaiters"; Geraldine Granger (Dawn French) from "The Vicar of Dibley"; Timothy Farthing (Frank Williams) from "Dad's Army"; Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander" from "Rev"; John Mulcahy (William Christopher) from the U.S. television show "M*A*S*H"; and Frank MacAnally (Niall Tóibín) from the BBC drama "Ballykissangel".

NB: From "Ballykissangel", I originally had the better-known Father Peter Clifford (as played by Peter Tompkinson), but true "Father Ted" fans will recollect that Tompkinson made a hilarious guest appearance as that character in the Ted Christmas special, alongside his co-star (and love interest) Dervla Kirwan as Assumpta. So Father Mac will have to do.