Graham Linehan

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Graham Linehan (born 1968) is an Irish writer who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular British comedies.

As a pair they have been responsible for segments in many high profile sketch shows including Harry Enfield and Chums, The All New Alexei Sayle Show and the Ted & Ralph characters in The Fast Show) (the characters were created by Linehan and Mathews and played by Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse). They also contributed to various magazines and wrote surreal liner notes for the popular "Volume" series of alternative music compilations.

However, it was with Father Ted (3 series, 1995-1998) that Linehan and Mathews made their biggest splash on the public imagination. They also wrote the first series of the sketch show Big Train, but Linehan bowed out for the second series.

Linehan has continued to provide material for shows which are held in high regard, in particular Brass Eye. With Dylan Moran, he co-wrote the first series of Black Books, a series to which Mathews also made a much smaller contribution. He wrote the new Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd, the first two episodes of which were broadcast back to back on February 3, 2006.

Both Linehan and Mathews often make cameo appearances in programmes they have written. They also made a notable appearance in the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge as two Irish producers considering Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) for a contract. Typically, they went away with a strong urge to employ somebody else. (Partridge: "Sunday Bloody Sunday. Really captures the frustration of a Sunday, doesn't it? The kids are running around, you've got all of the papers to read, and you think "Sunday, Bloody Sunday.") Linehan has also appeared in two episodes of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, a cameo in Black Books(Season One Episode 5)) and, so far, one episode of The IT Crowd (Season One Episode 3).

They also wrote the 'Dearth of A Salesman' episode for the series 'Coogan's Run', which featured the character 'Gareth Cheeseman'.

In late 2003, Linehan and Mathews were named among the 50 funniest people in Britain by The Observer newspaper. [1]

Linehan is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. He also enjoys playing poker and has been featured on Celebrity Poker Club.

He is brother-in-law to actor and voice artist Peter Serafinowicz.

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