This could be incredible.
Endlessly quotable and brimming with fantastic characters, 20 years since the final episode of Father Ted aired, there’s one thing that’s often overlooked in Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan’s iconic show; the satire.
There’s a school of thought which suggests that Father Ted had a seismic impact on eradicating the theocracy of the Catholic Church and amidst the classic tales of a rabbit infestation, kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse and the All-Priests Five-a-Side Over-75’s Indoor Challenge Football Match, there’s a large degree of truth to it.
For example, we all remember the scene when Ted was cheering on a horse named ‘Divorce Referendum’, or Pat Mustard gleefully putting Ted on the spot by asking him about his views on artificial contraception.
Of course, like any other genre, good comedy has the ability to hold a mirror to society and on that note, Arthur Mathews has confirmed that he’s working on a new show about Brexit.
During an interview with Dion Fanning on Ireland Unfiltered, the Father Ted co-creator said that Britain’s decision to leave the EU is the perfect breeding ground for his new satire.
“I’m working on something with Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2, Catastrophe),” said Mathews.
“He had a few pilots commissioned by Channel 4 so he asked me to write one of them. I’ve done something with Matt Berry, who I did Toast of London with, about Brexit. It’s called ‘The Road to Brexit’, which uses old documentary footage. He (Matt) presents it, not as himself, but it’s mostly old, found footage documentary stuff and he just re-voices it.
“It’s about the road to Brexit and how Britain got to Brexit. Basically, it’s the history of the European community in Britain,” he added.
Mathews said that the whole idea for the show came from an old, rambling interview that Billy Idol gave in 1977, but there’s one key difference; the new show will see Matt Berry redub this interview with information about stuff like fish quotas and other topical bureaucratic details.
To be honest, Matt Berry is the perfect choice to be the narrator of the new show Mathews mentions because as fans of The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh will know, he has one of the greatest voices of all time.
Given the fact that we’ve been treated to some outlandish stories, anecdotes, and interviews about Brexit, the topic is ripe for comedy, but rather than go for the easy targets of Boris-bashing or slamming Theresa May, Mathews says that his show will be a bit more nuanced because he can understand the mentality of the Leave campaigners.
“The Eurosceptics are kind of comical,” Matthew said.
“Farage is a kind of a stereotype. It’s chaos really, the Brexit thing, but I kind of understand where they’re coming from. I mean, I would have voted Remain but I don’t have disdain for them (Brexiteers), like a lot of people have. I know what their attitude is to Europe and I know where they’re coming from.
“I don’t particularly like nationalism, and essentially, Brexiteers are nationalistic. But I do know where they’re coming from and I won’t dismiss them like a lot of people would. I’m not agreeing with them, but I know where they’re coming from. Even saying that, I feel like I should kill myself!”
You can listen to the sixth episode of Ireland Unfiltered, Dion Fanning in conversation with Arthur Mathews by simply subscribing here, and you can use #IrelandUnfiltered to join the conversation on social.
Ireland Unfiltered, brought to you in partnership with Carlsberg Unfiltered, is available everywhere you get your audio and on YouTube every Tuesday.
