Father Dougal McGuire an uncle who died after his heart stopped beating for a week. It is unclear how Dougal entered the priesthood, with Ted wondering, "Dougal, how did you get into the Church? Was it, like, collect twelve crisp packets and become a priest?" By the time the show begins, Dougal has been exiled to Craggy Island as punishment for unknown misdeeds. In an early interview, the writers stated that it involved "a baptism gone wrong". In "The Passion of Saint Tibulus", Bishop Brennan says that Dougal cannot be allowed back into "the real world" after "the Blackrock incident", in which hundreds
Father Ted Crilly attempts to remake the show for American audiences. In 2004, Steve Martin was reported to have signed on to play Ted in a new version. In 2007, John Michael Higgins was cast in the part. No remake has yet entered production. Considered his family's "idiot brother", Ted was sent off to the priesthood while his brother, the favourite son, became a doctor, as was the custom at the time. Ted attended Saint Colm's seminary, and was bullied by the other novices, who nicknamed him Father Fluffybottom after seeing his backside in the showers. Some time after being ordained, he was