Arthur Mathews

Most highly regarded for his work on the U.K. comedy series "Father Ted," Arthur Mathews attended Castleknock College, a private school run by Vincentian priests, who would prove inspirational years later when Mathews was writing for the sitcom "Father Ted." Mathews found a love of writing and honed his craft before earning his first television credits in 1994 on a series of comedy shows: "The Day Today," "The All New Alexei Sayle Show," and "Paris." With these successes he and his writing partner, Graham Linehan, earned enough prestige to launch their own series, "Father Ted," in 1995. The show, which centered on three exiled priests and their housekeeper, proved hugely popular, ran for three seasons, and earned numerous awards, including BAFTAs. Mathews made multiple appearances on the show, once as the evasive Father Clarke in the episode titled "Speed 3." After the show wrapped in 1998, Mathews and Linehan went on to co-create the award-winning comedy sketch show "Big Train," and the BBC sitcom "Hippies." In 2002, Mathews branched out to write the satirical novel "Well-Remembered Days : Eoin O'Ceallaigh's Memoir of a Twentieth-Century Catholic Life." Building a reputation for surreal comedy, Mathews has written for a number of shows including the sketch comedy series "Jam," the comedy series "Black Books," and the comedy "Val Falvey TD." With the last he also took on directorial duties.