Father Dougal McGuire Linehan and Mathews to discard the mockumentary format and expand the Father Ted episode to a traditional sitcom, Father Dougal became one of the main characters. When writing Dougal, Linehan and Mathews drew on Stan Laurel, incorporating some of Linehan's own behaviour during moments of confusion. Linehan and Mathews saw O'Hanlon in a modernised Shakespeare play broadcast by RTÉ, and were impressed by the "weird, gormless" face he could pull. Linehan later said, "That was Dougal right there. He was just spot-on and he became our secret weapon. The show took off so quickly because Ardal was so instantly funny."
"Good Luck, Father Ted" "Good Luck, Father Ted" "Good Luck, Father Ted" is the first episode to be aired of the Channel 4 sitcom "Father Ted". Ted is contacted by a producer from Tele Éireann television programme, "Faith of our Fathers", requesting to interview Ted as a priest that 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 with the television reporter at "The Field", one of least-rocky areas on the