Belfast filmmaker creates NI online parody of Father Ted — Pastor Ed

Most people have heard of Father Ted, but now, three decades after the Irish priest first graced television screens on Channel 4, a Northern Ireland version of the hit series is set to be shown online.
Pastor Ed has been created by Belfast writer and director Sean McConville, who has reimagined the cult comedy from an Ulster Protestant perspective in a three-part web series, and is playing the titular character of Pastor Ed himself.

For the project, the young filmmaker has further teamed up with two of NI’s largest local TikTok comedians, Magherafelt funnyman John Devlin and Belfast drag queen Sabrina Bewitched, who both have a combined following of over 100k on the micro-video social app.

“Pastor Ed follows two Protestant ministers — who are also members of the Orange Order — as they navigate modern-day Northern Ireland and the chaotic world of Irish politics,” Sean explained.

“The web series consists of three episodes that have all taken inspiration from Father Ted, with the twist that the titular character is an Orange Order Protestant minister rather than a Catholic priest.

“I wanted to create a parody that bridged the gap between an online comedy sketch and a TV sitcom. Each episode is roughly 10 minutes, meaning it straddles the line between classic sitcoms and the short, sharp comedy found online today.”

The 22-year-old added that working with John and Sabrina “helped blur this line between social media and traditional television, exploring the boundaries of comedy in today’s media landscape”.

“People will definitely find it to be some craic,” noted John, who has amassed almost three million likes on TikTok since starting his page in 2019.

“It’s really well edited and well done overall, to look exactly like Father Ted. Sean is a visionary for his age. He goes to great lengths in terms of set design and location and I think if you grew up with Father Ted, Pastor Ed is the closest thing in modern media to fill that hole!

“It feels familiar being set in NI and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s reactions to it.”

Sean has further described himself as a Father Ted superfan and said each episode of Pastor Ed is “nearly like a parody of different Father Ted scenes”.

For example, the first Pastor Ed episode is named ‘My Lovely Hearse’, in tribute to the famous ‘My Lovely Horse’ song that Ted and Dougal enter the Eurovision song contest with in the 90s.

Sean’s previous work has been screened at events such as the Lit for Laughs International Comedy Film Festival, where he was nominated for Best Student Film and placed third.

by Different_Onion