Father Ted - Complete Box Set

Father Ted to quote the Channel 4 official website is about "One small island off the west coast of Ireland. Three priests. One housekeeper. A gaggle of supporting priests. A bunch of nuns. A few late-night Ludo matches. The most consistently awful weather in the world."

Father Ted was a rollicking success for me and my husband from day one, a marvellous, surreal, genuinely bizarre mix of whimsy, blarney, satire and violence packaged in outrageously funny plots.

All the priests in Father Ted came across as juvenile, arrested adults delighting in name-calling, point-scoring, taunting and flaunting their own personal successes. Although containing the odd salient swipe at the Catholic church and religion in general, such digs were softened by the series' overtly unreal nature and its surreal characterisation and plotting.

It is, perhaps, an acquired taste, but one worth persevering with, for, as Mrs Doyle would say, even if you didn't get it at first, eventually you will, you will, you will, you will, you will, you will, you will, you will...