IT'S commonly believed that Father Ted was rejected by RTE because the State broadcaster's conservative chiefs were worried the classic sitcom might upset the Catholic Church.
But the award-winning comedy's creators have finally set the record straight and revealed they never approached Montrose's commissioning editors, because they didn't think they were up to to the task of producing the hit show.
Graham Linehan said he and co-writer Arthur Matthews only ever pitched the idea to Channel 4 on the advice of their then-landlord, veteran Welsh comedian Griff Rhys Jones.
But Linehan, who moved to London with Matthews in the early 90s to write comedy scripts, says most Irish people still believe RTE rejected their first scripts, forcing them to try their luck with Channel 4, whose bosses went on to commission three series between 1995 and 1998.
He said: "That's a rumour that's been going for 20 years and we can't seem to quash it.
"Why would we give the scripts to RTE? We just knew they wouldn't be capable of making a show like Ted."
Linehan also said Rhys Jones, in whose small Kilburn flat he and Matthews lived and wrote sketches non-stop for four years in the early 90s, was instrumental in getting the show commissioned.
He said Jones, who starred in sketch shows like Not The Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones, became a close confidante and played a key role in "getting the scripts to the right people".
But he admitted he initially feared that Irish viewers might not take to a comedy about three priests living on an island off the west coast of Ireland.
He said: "It was very gratifying when Ireland took Father Ted to its bosom, so to speak.
"It definitely caught fire in Ireland in a way that was a bit surprising, because one of our early worries was that we thought that it might appear as if English people were laughing at Irish people, and that's why we made sure we had an Irish director and nearly all Irish actors.
"We wanted to stress that it was Irish talent using English money."
And Linehan, 43, who has gone on to write dozens of comedy series since, admits that he is unlikely to ever re-create a series as good as Ted.
Referring to his working relationship with Matthews, the Dubliner recalled: "Because we were flatmates, we were going in and making the programme, then going home and watching TV together, then waking up in the morning and writing. We were just constantly in each other's pockets.
"I think if it wasn't that intense, Father Ted wouldn't have been the programme it was."
He added: "I'm not saying that Father Ted is the best thing I will ever do, but it's a specific kind of magic, and I don't think I could ever get that back again."