FATHER Ted favourite Ardal O’Hanlon has slammed the “truly ridiculous” trigger warning slapped on old episodes of the much-loved comedy.
The 59-year-old actor, who played loveable Father Dougal McGuire in the long-running series, agreed with Good Morning Britain anchor Richard Madeley, 68, on the “preposterous” nature of the changes.
Earlier this month, The Sun was first to report how Channel 4 had issued the alert on an “offensive” episode.
Telly bosses feared 1998 episode Are You Right There, Father Ted could upset today’s viewers because of its language and scenes of racial impersonation.
During Thursday’s episode of the ITV daytime show, Richard brought up the issue of debate, blasting the warning as “preposterous.”
The former This Morning anchor, who was fronting GMB with Kate Garraway, 57, then added: “What could be more gentle than Father Ted?”
Irish comedian Ardal then replied: “I am with you on that, I don’t get it.
“You should have a trigger warning in a supermarket.
“Where do we start, and where do we end?
“It’s truly ridiculous.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D108073%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]EPISODE FLAGGED
The Father Ted episode in question includes a sequence where Ted, played by Dermot Morgan, appears to mock the Chinese wearing a lampshade on his head and later looks like Hitler thanks to some furious arm gestures and a well-placed mark on the window.
The misunderstanding sees the priest spend the rest of the episode trying to convince the island he was not “a bit of a racist”.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Channel 4 slap trigger warning on famous episode Father Ted – where the priest wears a lampshade on his head to mock racism” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6368651810112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The plot point was deemed triggering by Channel 4’s streaming service, with a warning reading: “This episode was made in 1998 and contains language and racial impersonation which some viewers may find offensive.”
Free Speech Union leader Toby Young said: “The language and behaviour was ‘offensive’ in 1998 — that was the point.
“This episode was mocking the hyper-sensitivity of our age, something that was already apparent 27 years ago.
“For Channel 4 to attach a trigger warning shows that nothing has changed.
“The scolds and finger-waggers are as humourless as ever.”
It comes as Father Ted celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
