The symmetry seems too perfect to be dismissed as coincidence. JJ Abrams’s new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, ends with a circling, aerial shot of two robe-clad figures – one distinctly priestly – greeting each other atop a remote, verdant island.
Meanwhile Father Ted – the Channel 4 sitcom that ran for three series in the 1990s – boasted a title sequence that culminated with a very similar shot: circling three priests (one stubbly) and their housekeeper on a remote, verdant island.
Great to see #fatherted 's #craggyisland feature in the new #starwars #TheForceAwakens
— Colm Faulkner (@ColmFaulkner) December 18, 2015
PIC: We're all about this Father Ted-inspired Star Wars poster https://t.co/6DeajaTHLQ pic.twitter.com/hHXPYYkbG8
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) December 16, 2015
The Star Wars scenes were in fact shot on the Skellig Islands in County Kerry; a former base for early Christian monks, and now the subject of a substantial tourism drive leveraging the connection to the film. The opening titles of Father Ted, meanwhile, were filmed on the Aran Islands, around 159km north north-east. The cinematographer for Abrams’s film, Daniel Mindel, has yet to comment on the apparent aesthetic lift.
The connection has led some to suggest that a Star Wars/Father Ted hybrid film could take both sets of characters to new heights in the style of recent franchise mash-ups.
Father Jedi. #StarWars #TheForceAwakens #StarWarsTheForceAwakens #TFA #Feck #FatherTed #FatherJedi pic.twitter.com/II9a5znmvK
— Lee Thacker (@FubsyShabaroon) December 19, 2015
Conspiracy theories – and Ted co-creator Graham Linehan – have traced the roots of the crossover back to a 1997 magazine shoot done by Ted’s Dermot Morgan and Ardal O’Hanlon to promote the comedy show’s final series.
The Feck Awakens. #StarWars #TheForceAwakens #StarWarsTheForceAwakens #TFA #Feck #FatherTed #FatherJedi pic.twitter.com/cbSQDB7FIh
— Lee Thacker (@FubsyShabaroon) December 19, 2015
Other fans have extrapolated the connection yet further.
Star Wars Spoiler: Chewbacca is NOT a wookie, just an escapee from St Clabberts with level 12 "Hairy Hands Syndrome". #starwars #fatherted
— Seán Ó Cearbhaill (@AnCruiscinLan) December 17, 2015
