Video: Woeful Father Ted rip-off slated by creators

A Father Ted "tribute" act – enacted for financial gain – has caused controversy and disturbed the classic show’s creators, to put it mildly.

Co-creator Graham Linehan has rightfully reacted with incredulity and dismay at 'Father Ted: The Dinner Show' (watch below).

The rip-off sketch in which actors playing Fathers Ted Crilly, Dougal McGuire, Jack Hackett and their housekeeper Mrs Doyle will be acted out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for £39 per head including dinner.

Reacting to the promotional video posted on Youtube, Linehan (@Glinner) tweeted: ‘a bunch of chancers, all right. I'd like to think people wldn't see it and think "fuck, this has gone downhill, hasn't it?”’

Laughlines director Michael Wilson-Green, the company behind the show, defended the production, saying: ‘I contemplated contacting Graham and Arthur, but we’re only emulating the characters. We change the sketches and it’s all improvised, we’ve never scripted anything.’

‘There are a lot of people doing tributes out there. For the tribute Fawlty Towers, we never asked John Cleese’s permission but we did approach the people who had the scripts [David Wilkinson Associates] and they said as long as we don’t copy the scripts, we should be fine.’

Tell us what you think of the promo video by leaving a comment below.