This is sad. Geoffrey Perkins died in a road accident yesterday. Father Ted is one of my favorite comedies ever, and its creator, Graham Linehan, shared a nice anecdote regarding Mr. Perkins’ contributions to its beginning.
Mr. Linehan had selected a theme song he felt to be perfect because of its silliness and because it would seem to be “subtly making fun” of the show. Geoffrey Perkins didn’t like it.
“Why do you want to make fun of your show?” said Geoffrey, finally, looking wounded and worried. “People will love these characters.”
I later realised that it was a fork in the road, that discussion, and if we had not travelled the way Geoffrey suggested, we’d have ended up lost…we may never have made it to series three. Without Geoffrey, ‘Father Ted’ would have been a cacophonous riot, and not nearly as loved as it is today. He gave the show a heart, and gave me–still very young, and unsure as to what type of person I should try to become– someone to model myself on.
Ten years ago, Dermont Morgan, the comedian who played the Father Ted character, also passed away unexpectedly. It’s a bit depressing to think that two people so connected to that show’s success are now gone.