Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan (born May 1968) is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist.

Linehan was born in Dublin in 1968.

He attended Catholic University School, a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in Dublin.

In the 1980s, Linehan joined the staff of the Dublin politics and music magazine Hot Press, where he met his future writing partner, Arthur Mathews.

In their early collaborations, they created segments in sketch shows including Alas Smith and Jones, Harry Enfield & Chums, The All New Alexei Sayle Show, The Day Today and the Ted and Ralph characters in The Fast Show.

They continued their collaboration with Paris (one series, 1994), Father Ted (three series, 1995–1998), and the first series of the sketch show Big Train.

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

He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004) and The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and he has written for shows including Count Arthur Strong, Brass Eye and The Fast Show.

Early in his career, he partnered with the writer Arthur Mathews.

Father Ted won BAFTA awards for Best Comedy in 1996 and 1999.

Linehan wrote for the satirical series Brass Eye (1997), Blue Jam (1997—1999) and Jam (2000). With the actor Dylan Moran, he created the sitcom Black Books (2000—2004).

In late 2003, Linehan and Mathews were named one of the 50 funniest acts to work in television by The Observer.

Linehan wrote and directed the 2006 Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd, in which he sought to move away from the British trend towards mockumentary comedies.

Unlike many series of the time, it was recorded before a studio audience.

In 2007, a documentary about Linehan, his life and his career was produced by Wildfire Films for RTÉ One.

This documentary explored the art, craft and deeply competitive business of creating contemporary television comedy.

The programme featured interviews with several of the UK's most successful television comedy writers and performers including Steve Coogan, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Paul Whitehouse, Griff Rhys Jones and Ardal O'Hanlon, all of whom have worked with Linehan.

It was directed by Adrian McCarthy and produced by Martha O'Neill and Adam Rynne.

In November 2008, he was awarded an International Emmy for The IT Crowd.

Linehan was one of the writers interviewed by Charlie Brooker in 2008 in a special interview episode of the fifth series of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe programme, and again on Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe in 2010.

In 2011, Linehan appeared with several members of the cast in Channel 4's Father Ted Night, an evening of the writer's favourite episodes and two retrospective documentaries.

He also appeared as a guest panellist on Have I Got News for You in 2011 and again in 2012, and he made his debut as a guest on the BBC show QI in the 11th series (K series) in 2013, receiving a score of −19.

In 2013, he wrote and directed the sitcom The Walshes.

He co-wrote the first series of the BBC sitcom Motherland and directed its pilot episode.

Linehan has won five BAFTA awards, including Best Writer, Comedy, for The IT Crowd in 2014.

After an episode of The IT Crowd was criticised as transphobic, Linehan became involved in anti-transgender activism.

He argues that transgender activism endangers women and he has likened the use of puberty blockers to Nazi eugenics.

Linehan says his views have lost him work and ended his marriage.

In 2014, Linehan won his fifth BAFTA, for Best Writer, Comedy, for his work on The IT Crowd.

He was also nominated for Count Arthur Strong.

In 2018, Linehan and Mathews announced plans for a Father Ted musical.

Linehan said it would finish the series as they had planned it before the death of the lead actor, Dermot Morgan.

The musical was cancelled by producers following the controversy over Linehan's views on transgender rights.

Both Linehan and Mathews have made cameos in programmes they have written.

They also made an appearance in the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge as two Irish TV producers considering Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) for a contract.

Linehan has also appeared in The Day Today and in two episodes of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and has had cameos in Black Books (series one, episode two, as "I love books" Guy, and series one, episode five as Fast Food Customer), and the Father Ted episodes "Good Luck Father Ted", "Entertaining Father Stone", "Flight Into Terror", "Cigarettes, Alcohol and Rollerblading" and "Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep".

He had cameos in four episodes of The IT Crowd: as Messy Joe's Restaurant Musician, in series one, episode three; the blind sorcerer, in series two, episode six; as a member of the audience for Jen's speech, in series three, episode four; and as Beth Gaga Shaggy, in series four, episode three.

He appeared in the Identity Parade round of Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

He also appeared in the pilot of Little Britain, as well as in series one, episode four, as a bystander who gets in the way of character Kenny Craig when he is attempting to hypnotise, from a distance, a man whose car he has crashed into.

He also appeared in series one, episode five, in which he played a journalist called Roy Sloan (from Whizzer and Chips) during a conference with Prime Minister Michael Stevens (Anthony Head).