Christmas specials of comedy series, usually being longer, can be a curate's egg - good in parts etc... This episode, however, despite being double the length of a typical Ted, maintains the series' stratospherically high standards throughout! Right from the introductory absurdity of the Ted household's visit to The Mainland for Christmas shopping, to the (un)dynamic duo's incarceration in Ireland's Largest Lingerie Department, through Ted's elevation to Priest of the Year and Mrs Doyle's adventures with the Teamatic, this is a total gem of a show.
The Vietnamesque escape from said Lingerie Department, Father Jack's being parked in a creche (spelling 'Arse, Feck, Girls' with the ABC wooden spelling blocks and corrupting the other infants into crying those very words later), the sleazy flashback of the old priest talking about Ted to Father Unctious, every scene is perfect.
Watch out for a young Kevin McKidd, of 'Rome' fame, as a callow priest losing it in the Lingerie Department, and the lovely Ed Byrne as a scoffing youth on a gay-chatline spoof...
Sheer perfection.
P.S. Dermot Morgan is so painfully missed...
The Vietnamesque escape from said Lingerie Department, Father Jack's being parked in a creche (spelling 'Arse, Feck, Girls' with the ABC wooden spelling blocks and corrupting the other infants into crying those very words later), the sleazy flashback of the old priest talking about Ted to Father Unctious, every scene is perfect.
Watch out for a young Kevin McKidd, of 'Rome' fame, as a callow priest losing it in the Lingerie Department, and the lovely Ed Byrne as a scoffing youth on a gay-chatline spoof...
Sheer perfection.
P.S. Dermot Morgan is so painfully missed...