THE Irish comedy writers, Arthur, Mathews and Graham Linehan, won a British Academy award last, night for their Channel 4 series, Father Ted.
The series, starring Dermot Morgan, won the best comedy on television prize at the BAFTA ceremony in London. It beat three other nominees in this category, Absolutely Fabulous, Men Behaving Badly and One Foot in the Grave.
Last December, the authors of Father Ted won the Best New Television Comedy category at the British Comedy Awards. The series is based around the lives of three priests, Father Ted (played by Dermot Morgan), Father Dougal (Ardal O'Hanlon) and the terminally drunk Father Jack (Frank Kelly), and is set in their parochial house on the mythical Craggy Island. The first six part series was screened on Channel 4 in late 1994, and is now in its second production.
Mr Mathews (36), originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, and Mr Linehan (27), from Dublin, have been based in London for the last five years and have worked with British comedy writers, Alexei Sayle and Steve Coogan, among others.
"We wanted to be as mad as possible," the pair said in a recent Irish Times interview on the Father Ted success. "What we've managed to do is get something that's really mad and give it a strong logical base."
The Oscar winning film Braveheart, which was filmed in Ireland, won the Lloyds' Bank People's Vote for Favourite Film at the BAFTA ceremony. Five of the top prizes went to adaptations of Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice.
Emma Thompson received best performance for a leading actress for her part in Sense and Sensibility, while Kate Winslet won an award for her supporting role.