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."
Father Dougal McGuire "Only Fools and Horses". In another interview, they mentioned Latka Gravas from "Taxi" as an influence and compared the relationship between Ted and Dougal to that between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: "Alongside the wily priest who would lie at the drop of a hat we wanted a gormless idiot who was the very model of innocence." For his portrayal of Dougal, O'Hanlon turned to Laurel and Hardy and "Fawlty Towers"s bumbling waiter Manuel. O'Hanlon also drew inspiration from his child sister, as well as dogs, explaining: "Dougal had to be more than just stupid. He had to be otherworldly