2. Father Ted A Christmassy Ted
While Christmas shopping, Ted rescues a group of priests who are lost in a department stores lingerie section, a feat which earns him the prestigious Golden Cleric award. This ones a real modern classic. It stands up to being rewatched multiple times and its increased runtime allows the writers to work with larger storylines and extended running gags, particularly Mrs Doyles devastation at being given a team-making machine for Christmas. Although a lot of the jokes are plot-driven, focussing on Teds increased narcissism when he wins the award, there are a lot more that are more character-focussed, expertly taking these completely insane characters and seeing how Christmas reacts with their personalities. Surprisingly theres very little focus on the priests duties at Christmas but that doesnt detract from the episode significantly. The story feels a bit stretched at times but the jokes are always of a high enough standard to keep that from mattering, with Frank Kelly (Father Jack) getting some of the best jokes.
Best Moment: Ted and Dougal leading six priests on an escape from Irelands largest lingerie department.