Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest his body works differently from other people". The executives were bemused by an incomplete story where one of the main characters was dead, but commissioned the series soon after receiving the full script. In retrospect, Linehan and Mathews noticed that the plot was very similar to that of the "Fawlty Towers" episode "The Kipper and the Corpse". Despite being fans of the show, they only noticed the parallels afterwards, and would likely have abandoned the episode if they had seen them earlier. Kevin Sharkey, who plays the black Donegal priest, was a friend of the writers', and was brought in
Comedy Playhouse (series 1) which was broadcast at 8:40pm. Comedy Playhouse (series 1) The first series of Comedy Playhouse, that continued to be a long-running BBC series, broadcast from 15 December 1961 to 16 February 1962. All the episodes were written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The first series, which was in black and white, consisted of ten episodes, each of which had a different cast and storyline. Only the fourth episode, "The Offer", made it to its own series becoming "Steptoe and Son"; all other episodes of this series of "Comedy Playhouse" are lost. The episodes were broadcast on Friday at 8:45pm,