Bishop Brennan

Infobox character
colour =
name = Bishop Brennan


caption = Jim Norton as Bishop Leonard Brennan
first = The Passion of St Tibulus
last = Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse
cause =
gender = Male
age =
born =
death =
occupation = Bishop
children = Unnamed son
residence =
portrayer = Jim Norton

Bishop Leonard "Len" Brennan is a fictional character played by Jim Norton in the Irish sitcom "Father Ted".

Character

Bishop Brennan is the reason that Ted, Dougal and Jack are imprisoned on the hellish Craggy Island. As their superior, he had the responsibility of punishing them for un-priest like crimes they have committed. He is strong-willed and strict, with a notorious phobia of rabbits and a rumoured son in America. He strikes fear into Father Ted Crilly, who constantly tries to avoid Bishop Brennan whenever possible. He dislikes being called 'Len', yet Dougal calls him this repeatedly.

Bishop Brennan can be seen as being hypocritical and decadent and in many ways just as bad as Ted in his vindictiveness. His lifestyle makes for a scathing criticism of the supposed "privilege" in the Catholic church, with numerous scenes wherein he calls Ted from obviously luxurious surroundings, once even settling into a bath with a naked woman while Ted and the others live comfortably in relative squalor.

Appearances

The Passion of St Tibulus

Bishop Brennan visited the island on three notable occasions: firstly; when the blasphemous film "The Passion of Saint Tibulus" was being shown on the island. When Ted and Dougal tried (half-heartedly) to protest, more and more people took notice of the film, and came in flocks to the island to see it (some coming from as far away as Gdańsk).

Bishop Brennan vowed to punish the three priests by sending them to smaller, worse places across the world that were even more horrific than Craggy Island. However, the Bishop soon changed his mind when Father Jack Hackett found a video tape containing footage of Brennan with what is presumed to be his long-rumoured son and girlfriend (the boy's mother) on holiday in California.

The Plague

The Bishop's second visit to the island was when Father Jack started a habit of nude sleepwalking, and to Bishop Brennan's fury it had been witnessed by an old and respected friend of his. Brennan once again had to deal with "the cast of Police Academy", as he described the three Craggy Island priests. Unfortunately he was totally unaware that a plague of rabbits had befallen the house.

Bishop Brennan was once stuck in a lift in New York with around a hundred rabbits, and they started to "nibble at my cloak, and everything". Upon questioning Ted when his suspicions were aroused to the priests' strange behaviour (and finding some lettuce in a cage), Brennan retired to bed, only to be woken up by Ted and Dougal who were getting rid of about a hundred rabbits and a nude Jack who was sleeping in the Bishop's bed.

Kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse

As the result of losing a football match to Father Dick Byrne, Ted was forced to accept a forfeit: "Kick Bishop Brennan up the arse". After Dick Byrne told Brennan that an apparation of him was appearing in the skirting boards of the guest bedroom, he arrived with his escort Father Jessop - the most sarcastic priest in Ireland.

Ted eventually (after much fooling around) managed to carry out to the forfeit, acting on Dougal's suggestion to kick Bishop Brennan and then act like he hadn't, the reasoning being that Ted's fear of the Bishop was so well-known that he would never believe Ted would do such a thing. After the kick, however, Bishop Brennan was shocked into a catatonic state that lasted well beyond the duration of his visit, until around halfway through a trip to the Vatican for an audience with the Pope. He snapped out of it just as he was due to greet the pontiff, exclaiming "He "did" kick me up the arse!", shoving the Holy Father aside and flying back to Craggy Island in utmost fury. Ted eventually managed to convince a raging Brennan that he didn't kick him in the posterior, only for the Bishop to see the massive photograph of Ted kicking him up the arse that Dougal had had placed outside the house. Once again enraged, Bishop Brennan got his revenge on Ted by doing the same thing to him, sending him flying ten feet into the air across the field.

References