ARDAL O'HANLON
O'Hanlon first found fame as a stand-up comedian, winning the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1994. For a period he was the presenter of The Stand Up Show.
He was spotted by Graham Linehan, who was to cast him as Father Dougal Maguire in Father Ted, which ran between 1995 and 1998. In 1995, he appeared (as Father Dougal) in a Channel 4 ident (''Hello, you're watching.... television''), and during Comic Relief on BBC1. This was followed by the more serious Big Bad World and the award winning short comedy film Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll.
He was in an episode of the UK version of the incredible UK comedian show ''Whose Line is it Anyway?''
In 2000, O'Hanlon starred in the comedy series My Hero, in which he played a superhero who was naive to Earth and juggled his world-saving duties with the crises of suburban living. He stayed in the role until early 2005 and was replaced by James Dreyfus for series 6 in 2006.
He also provided the voice of the lead character in two Christmas television cartoon specials of Robbie the Reindeer. He appeared in the 2005 BBC One sitcom Blessed, written by Ben Elton; at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, it was publicly slated by Jonathan Ross, albeit in jest. Towards the end of 2005, he played an eccentric Scottish character, Coconut Tam, in the family-based film, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby.
He later appeared in the Doctor Who episode ''Gridlock'', broadcast on April 14, 2007, in which he played a feline alien named Thomas Kincade Brannigan.
He was also the host of So You Want To Be Taoiseach? on RTE One. It was a political show in which he gave advice to follow if you wanted to be Taoiseach, (the Prime Minister of Ireland).
He also played a minor role in The Butcher Boy as Joe's (Francie's best friend) father.
Beyond the world of television, O'Hanlon is an accomplished writer, and has written a novel, The Talk of the Town (known in the United States as Knick Knack Paddy Whack), which was published in 1998. The novel is about a teenage boy called Patrick Scully and his friends in strange jobs and aspirations.