Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Atkinson is a comedian who is best known for his roles in Mr Bean and also the popular sitcom Blackadder. Rowan Atkinson has been voted as one of the top 50 funniest acts in British Comedy by the Observer.

Rowan Atkinson on Wikipedia
Blackadder on Wikipedia
Mr Bean on Wikipedia

Rowan Atkinson's style of comedy has been described as visual rather than dialogue that most sitcoms heavily rely upon. Atkinson has also been noted to stress certain words and over exaggerate letters. This can be seen in Blackadder where he over-exagerates the "B" in "Bob" and Mr Bean which is more visual than dialogue. It is for this reason that Rowan Atkinson has been a big success in Sitcom history.

You can expect Atkinson's performances, because of his comic style, to be visual rather than dialogue based. This style of comedy gives Atkinson an edge over other Comedians due to their form of comedy being mostly dialogue based (possibly due to the influence of the Radio).

Medal Winner

Silver this time. Great research but where is Wednesday's task? Hopefully I shall see this by Monday otherwise you may be disqualified.

Do you think radio is still important in the continued development of sitcom?

I think that radio played a major part in the development of sitcoms as we know them today and has established writers and actors within the sitcom "community". For example, John Cleese was part of the Monty Python (which originated on the Radio) is now an established comedian and is renounced for his work on the Monty Python show on the radio but also Fawlty Towers a very popular British Sitcom. However, in modern times, Sitcoms have taken on the more popular form of Television programmes. Sitcoms nowadays are rarely influenced by the Radio, due to the many benefits of watching a sitcom on the television rather than the radio. For example, Fawlty Towers, The League Of Gentlemen and Keeping Up Appearances are just some of the many popular British sitcoms that are shown on television. The popularity of Televised sitcoms is due to the advantages that television has over Radio, most noteably the fact that it is visual rather than auditory.

Radio sitcoms are still broadcasted today however. BBC 7 for example, still airs a number of radio sitcoms. For example, Doctor ar Large is an example of a radio sitcom which airs at 17:00 on BBC 7 and lasts for 30 minutes. Whilst probably not as popular as Television sitcoms, Radio sitcoms are still aired today. Radio offers different experiences to that of Television however, as with radio, you have to visualise the jokes more rather than actually watching them play out. This involves the audience more. However with Visual sitcoms, you can have more humour because you can have humourous acts that could not be seen with radio. This offers more diversity when it comes to the type of humour.

Father Ted

Father Ted Facts
Father Ted IMDB

Father Ted is an Irish sitcom that follows the lives of 3 priests who are sent to Craggy Isle because of their failings as true priests. The main cast consists of Father Ted (the one who is normal (compared to the others)), Father Dougal (the dumb...really dumb one) and Father Jack (the one who is an alcoholic and swears a lot) and Mrs Doyle (the one who says go on, go on, go on, go on a lot and who likes to make the tea (and feels threatened by a tea maker)).

Part of the appeal of Father Ted are the characters. The characters who are meant to be priests are very "unstereotypical". First of all is Father Jack, practically the most humerous of the three priests. His favourite lines include "Feck!", "Gob-Shite!" and "Drink!". Father Jack is rarely sober and only becomes sober once every 12 years.

The second character who adds to the sitcoms appeal is Mrs Doyle, the tea lady. If you refuse anything from her, she will pester you with the lines "Go on, go on, go on, go on". She is obsessed with tea making and also cooking. Part of her character is humerous due to her sweet, good hearted nature coupled with her forcefullness.

Father Dougal who is the thickest of the three priests is arguabley one of the most thickest characters in sitcom history. His thickness doesn't come from the lack of knowledge, it comes from the lack of common sense.

And finally, Father Ted the most normal of the three priests. He seeks to re-establish himself in the community even with the hinderence caused by Dougal and Jack.

It is when these three characters combine in a plot that the true comedy is revealed. This is what appeals to the audience. The situations the characters are placed in are humerous in itself but when the characters add to the situation, then this becomes even more humerous. Father Ted was humerous because it reflected on society because it brought out the humerous aspects of being a priest. Father ted is still popular today, regardless of it's age. Whilst brought out in 1995, Father Ted is still a popular sitcom due to its appeal and variety of humerous situations the cast is put in.

Ftaher Ted Characters

Here is a link to the main and recurring characters in Father Ted.

http://www.sitcom.co.uk/father_ted/characters.shtml

Father Ted.

Synopsis: Based around the lives of Fathers Ted Crilly, Dougal Maguire and Jack Hackett, three Irish priests who have been banished from the mainland. They live on Craggy Island with their slightly crazed and tea-addicted house keeper, Mrs Doyle. Dougal isn't the brightest man ever, Ted has a knack of getting into awkward situations and the less said about Father Jack the alcoholic swear machine the better. Despite being in the middle of nowhere the trio find plenty of ways of causing chaos and confusion.

Father Ted Video's!

Here are a few Father Ted videos that i thought were really funny (especially the Brick one).

I Love My Brick:


Cake Jumper:


Mrs Doyle: Go on, go on, go on, go on, GO ON!

(I especially like the sandwiches bit!)