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
The Mainland (Father Ted) their fees of £200, or they would have to stay in jail overnight. Ted is initially ready to let them stay, but mis-interpretes Dougal's sign that his trousers' zipper was undone as directing him to the winnings he collected earlier, and Ted pays for their release. They return to Craggy Island, with Ted announcing they will never go to the mainland again. Sometime later, Wilson is bike-riding across Craggy Island, and gets lost. He goes to the parish house to get directions, and when Ted answers the door, he utters "I don't believe it!" The Mainland (Father Ted) "The Mainland"