THE future of Channel 4's awardwinning TV comedy Father Ted was in doubt last night after its writers said they were considering pulling the plug on the show.
A third series of the sitcom featuring the antics of three wayward Catholic priests is to be screened next autumn. But speculation grew that the eight episode series will be the final outing for the series, which attracted more than five million viewers to Channel 4 for its Christmas special.
Graham Linehan, one of the writers of the Hat Trick Productions series, said the team was keen to quit while they were ahead, pointing to the cult status of the BBC comedy classic Fawlty Towers, of which only 12 episodes were made.
But in a statement Mr Linehan later clarified his remarks: "Nothing has been finally decided. There is every possibility we will write a fourth series." A spokesman for Channel 4 said that discussion of a fourth series of the comedy was entirely speculative.
Father Ted, which won one of last year's British Comedy Awards, premiered in April 1995, and only 16 episodes have so far been shown.