A Christmassy Ted
| "A Christmassy Ted" | |
|---|---|
| Father Ted episode | |
| Episode no. | Episode Special |
| Directed by | Andy DeEmmony, Declan Lowney |
| Written by | Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews |
| Original air date | 24 December 1996 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Gerard McSorley ("Father Todd Unctious") |
|
| Episode chronology | |
Gerard McSorley ("Father Todd Unctious")
Stephen Tompkinson (Father Peter Clifford)
Dervla Kirwan (Assumpta Fitzgerald)
Tony Guilfoyle (Father Larry Duff)
Andrew McCulloch (Bishop Tom McCaskell)
Kevin McKidd (Father Deegan)
Sean Barrett (Father Fitzgerald)
"A Christmassy Ted" is an episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. It is the 17th episode overall and was broadcast between the second and third series. This episode is 55 minutes long, as opposed to the usual 21-22 mins of all other Father Ted episodes. It was aired on Christmas Eve, seven months after the second series had ended. Due to the popularity of this episode, it still gets repeated on Channel 4, RTE Two and More4 around Christmas every year.
The episode opens with Ted dreaming himself into the plot of Ballykissangel, telling Assumpta that he is going to leave the priesthood for her. Just as they start to kiss, Dougal wakes Ted simply to offer him a peanut, and Ted finds his dreams radically changed when he tries to sleep again: he is being chased by giant, snarling peanuts. Apparently there is more to Ted's original dream than mere romantic fantasy, as he confesses the next day that he is dissatisfied with his current station in life; he doesn't get enough recognition or excitement. Moving past this, though, Ted wishes for an uneventful, ordinary Christmas. Seemingly on cue, the doorbell rings and Ted finds a baby on the doorstep; however, the mother quickly removes the baby, having mistaken Ted's house for someone else's. Ted wonders if having a baby around the house could have led a number of humorous situations, but Dougal quickly convinces him that nothing interesting would have come of it.
While Christmas shopping, Ted and Dougal accidentally wander into what turns out to be the largest lingerie section in Ireland, prompting Ted to worry that there will be a scandal if they are discovered. As they try to find the exit, they run into six other priests, and Ted ultimately leads their escape in an unusually heroic fashion, after using the speaker system to tell women at the exit the store is about to close. Soon after, Ted learns he will receive a coveted Golden Cleric award as recognition for his actions. Although disappointed that there is no cash prize, Ted is excited at the potential fame and prestige that come with winning the award. However, when Mrs Doyle still only admits him to be the second-best priest in the country and talks about a Protestant Priest, he is thrown into a huff and goes off to muse on his future (inadvertently making an enemy of a fisherman on the way) and returning to find that in his absence, Mrs Doyle has had Dougal perform a funeral he was meant to do (with predictably disastrous consequences).
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