Arthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partners such as Graham Linehan, Paul Woodfull and

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. Noted for his distinctive voice, he is best known for his television roles in comedy series such as ''The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ' ...

, has either written or contributed to television comedies, such as ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...

, Big Train,'' and '' Toast of London'' and '' Harry Enfield and Chums''.

Early life

Mathews attended

Castleknock College Castleknock College () is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one of the oldest boys' schools in ...

, a private school run by Vincentian priests. He then graduated from the

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

with a degree in graphic design. He played drums in spoof U2 tribute act "The Joshua Trio" with Paul Woodfull, with whom he would later work on '' I, Keano''. He worked as art editor for ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'', leaving in 1991 to move to London.

Writing career

Television

Mathews has contributed to many sketch shows, including '' Harry Enfield and Chums'', '' The All New Alexei Sayle Show'' and the ''Ted & Ralph'' segments of ''

The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', also known as ''Brilliant'' in the United States, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran on BBC Two, BBC 2 from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Si ...

''. However, it was with ''

'' (three series, 1995–1998) that he and Graham Linehan made their biggest impression. It debuted on Channel 4. The writing partnership had previously co-written the comedy ''

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

'' (one series, 1994), also for Channel 4. Both Linehan and Mathews worked on the first series of sketch show '' Big Train'', but Linehan dropped out for the second series. Mathews has also contributed to other British comedies such as ''

Brass Eye ''Brass Eye'' (stylised as brassEYE) is a British satirical television series parodying current affairs news programming. A series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001. The series was created and presented by ...

'', '' Jam'', '' Black Books'' and later '' Toast of London''. He later contributed sketches for Kevin Eldon, including the Amish Sex Pistols. In 1999, Linehan and Mathews created the sixties-set sitcom ''

Hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

'', but the six-part series (which starred

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

and

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, comedian, and television presenter. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Jam & Jerusale ...

) was written by Mathews alone. In late 2003, the two men were named one of the 50 funniest acts to work in television by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''.

Theatre

In 2005, Mathews, with Michael Nugent and Paul Woodfull, co-wrote '' I, Keano'', a comedy musical play about footballer

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

leaving the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

before the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. It is presented as a mock-epic melodrama about an ancient Roman legion preparing for war. In its first two years, over half a million people watched it, generating €10m ($13m) in ticket sales. In January 2008, it began its fourth year of performances. He confirmed in 2018 that he and Linehan were working together on a Father Ted musical.

Television appearances

Linehan and Mathews appeared in the sitcom ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom created by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept broadcaster. The first series, broadcast in 1997, has Partridge living in a roadside h ...

'' as two Irish television producers considering hiring

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has ap ...

as a presenter. Mathews later starred in '' I Am Not An Animal'', an animated comedy series about talking animals written by

Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter, stand-up comedian and performer. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Wales ...

. Mathews also made four appearances on Father Ted: as Father Billy Kerrigan in Series 1, as one half of the picnic couple and as Father Ben in Series 2, and as Father Clarke in Series 3.

References

Credits

Books

* ''Father Ted: The Craggy Island Parish Magazines'' (with Graham Linehan (Hardback – Boxtree – 18 September 1998) * ''Father Ted: The Complete Scripts'' (with Graham Linehan (Paperback – Boxtree – 20 October 2000) * ''Well Remembered Days: Eoin O'Ceallaigh's Memoirs of a Twentieth-century Irish Catholic'' (Paperback – Macmillan – 9 March 2001) .Thank You For The Days
Review of ''Well-Remembered Days'', Harry Guerin, ''

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

'', 19 April 2001 * ''Toast on Toast: Cautionary tales and candid advice'', a spoof autobiography of Steven Toast. 2015 (with Matt Berry). * ''The Cummings Files''

Cartoons

* "Doctor Crawshaft's World of Pop", in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' (1992–93) * "The chairman", in the ''Observer Sports Monthly'' (2003–04)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Arthur Living people Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Hot Press people Irish comedy writers Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish satirists Irish television writers Irish male television writers People from Navan People educated at Castleknock College Irish television show creators Irish satirical television show creators Writers from County Meath Year of birth missing (living people)