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 Crilly Terror"). In "A Christmassy Ted", Ted prevents a national scandal by helping seven other priests find their way out of Ireland's largest lingerie section. The Church honours him with the Golden Cleric award. Next Ted and Dougal hosted the 1997 Comic Relief telethon (with Morgan and O'Hanlon in character for the duration of the event); when Ted wonders why he has been selected, Dougal suggests that God has planned it to allow Ted a chance to earn forgiveness for his sins by raising money for the charity. In the next episode, "Are You Right There Father Ted?", Ted has been