Father Ted Mathews first met while working at "Hot Press". In the late 1980s, Mathews, Paul Woodfull and Kieran Woodfull formed The Joshua Trio, a U2 tribute band. The trio began writing comedy sketches to accompany their act. Mathews created the Father Ted character for his short-lived stand-up routine. Before The Joshua Trio played at gigs, Mathews would occasionally come on-stage as Father Ted and tell jokes involving his great friend, Father Dougal McGuire. In 1991, Mathews left his job at "Hot Press" and moved into Linehan's London home. Over the next three to four years, they worked on rough ideas for
Father Ted was nearing completion, with a script by Linehan and Mathews and music by Hannon. Linehan said, "It's the real final episode of "Father Ted". This is true and not one of my stupid jokes, I promise. Didn't want to do something until the right idea came along. This was the right idea. Arthur and I have been laughing our arses off while writing it. Just like the old days.". Matthews confirmed his involvement in the musical in July 2018. Father Ted Father Ted is a British sitcom that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. Written by Irish