Father Ted advertisement. Later in 2001, Ardal O'Hanlon returned to the role of Father Dougal for a series of PBS advertisements to coincide with "Father Ted"s American broadcast; these segments were included on later DVD releases as "Fundraising with Father Dougal". In 2012, Frank Kelly made a brief appearance as Father Jack on an episode of "The One Show" with Graham Norton. In 2014, guest star Ben Keaton returned to the role of Father Austin Purcell, performing a stand-up routine and hosting the pub quiz "Arse Biscuits" in-character. Keaton also set up a Twitter page for the character, and a website where
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