Father Ted: 12 Funniest Episodes

6. A Song For Europe

Ireland's success in the real-life Eurovision Contest was something that originally caused celebrations across the nation, but eventually became a bit of a pain, as the winners had to host the next event - a high price for success. Three victories in a row between 1992 and 1994 was great for prestige, but not for the country's bank balance. So naturally, why not put Father Ted and Father Dougal forward to defend the crown? Guaranteed defeat was the outcome, but the hilarity of watching the sometimes incomprehensible judging panel trying to justify their victory in the qualifying section. Defeat for the lads wasn't as foregone a conclusion as you would expect though. After all, with Dougal dreaming up lyrics such as "take this lump of sugar baby, you know you want it" addressed to a horse, he is quite the lyrical Cassanova. But as Ted said, we can forget about Icey T and Scoopy Scoopy Dog Dog. The scenes where they are attempting to write their song are among the funniest ever, with Ted letting his frustrations run riot. With Dougal as a song-writing partner, unable to follow the simplest instruction, you can understand why, but the tirade of such abuse as "play the f***ing note" is still side-splitting today. Let's not forget the dream sequence where Ted and Dougal apparently have the same dream, with the same superfluous sax solo in their music video for 'My Lovely Horse'. If anything, it needed more sax.