Graham Linehan says satire is dying and he couldn’t make Father Ted today after arrest

Graham Linehan, the Irish writer behind Father Ted and The IT Crowd, has warned that satire is dying and says he could not make a comedy like Father Ted today. The 57-year-old, who relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in connection with three posts he published on X in April while living in the United States. He has said the posts were meant as satire and were mostly harmless.

Linehan’s arrest drew comment from British ministers and commentators who suggested free-speech protections could be reconsidered. He told Sky News on Sunday Morning from his home in Arizona that his experience illustrates a broader trend in which he believes television executives and social-media discourse suppress provocative satire. He said it would be impossible to create a show like Father Ted or The IT Crowd under what he described as a climate of constant scrutiny by “minor supposed minority groups” that executives say need protecting. He added that only people who never say anything controversial can survive in the current environment and said he left the UK because he could not pursue the kind of comedy he wanted there.

During the interview, Linehan said the arrest felt “unexpected but accepted” and recounted his sense of paranoia about returning to the UK in recent months. He said the experience underscored for him the tension between free expression and safety policies that, in his view, have increasingly encroached on creative work. He cited past boundary-pushing programs such as Spitting Image and Brass Eye as examples of comedy that might not be possible today, and argued that satire is moving backwards rather than forwards.

Separately, Linehan remains on trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on charges of harassing transgender woman Sophia Brooks by allegedly posting abusive comments on social media between Oct. 11 and Oct. 27 last year. He is also charged with damaging Brooks’s mobile phone to the value of £369 on Oct. 27 last year. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently on bail ahead of further hearings scheduled for Oct. 29.

The Heathrow arrest and the ongoing UK case come as Linehan has repeatedly framed his situation within a broader debate about free speech in Britain. His remarks come amid a series of public comments on media and political reactions to online discourse and reporting about trans issues. In later notes from the same week, US late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was reported to have been taken off air by ABC for comments made following the death of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, a situation that drew commentary from various political figures, including President Donald Trump, who weighed in on coverage and media licensing concerns. Linehan said he did not think the Trump administration should influence decisions made by TV companies, saying such interference would be inappropriate.

As his legal cases unfold, Linehan has maintained that his aim is to defend what he describes as the principle of free speech, even as he faces criminal allegations in the UK. His supporters argue the line between satire and harassment can be contested, while critics say the posts he has referenced crossed that line. The unfolding events continue to cast a spotlight on the state of satire and the boundaries of online discourse in the modern media landscape.