---
name: "Graham Linehan"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/graham-linehan"
fi1m_id: "graham-linehan"
imdb_id: "nm0512627"
tmdb_id: 98107
wikidata_id: "Q947387"
roles: ["Writer","Director","Producer"]
born: "22 May 1968"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 11
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-07T16:43:09.731086+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Graham Linehan

## Identity

Graham Linehan

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/graham-linehan
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** graham-linehan
- **IMDb ID:** nm0512627
- **TMDB ID:** 98107
- **Wikidata ID:** Q947387
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Linehan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q947387, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512627/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/98107

Writer and director. Born 22 May 1968 in Dublin, Ireland.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director, Producer
- **Born:** 22 May 1968, Dublin, Ireland
- **Active:** 1994–2017
- **Also known as:** Glinner
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 11: 4 acting, 3 directing, 3 writing, 1 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Arthur Mathews](https://film.one/person/arthur-mathews.md), [Andy Riley](https://film.one/person/andy-riley.md), [Kevin Cecil](https://film.one/person/kevin-cecil.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (5), 2000s 81 (4), 2010s 68 (2)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Linehan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q947387, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512627/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/98107

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Father Ted*](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md) (89)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Garth Marenghi's Darkplace*](https://film.one/tv/garth-marenghis-darkplace.md) (83)
- **Pluto TV:** [*Black Books*](https://film.one/tv/black-books.md) (82)
- **BritBox:** [*The IT Crowd*](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md) (76)
- **Apple TV:** [*Motherland*](https://film.one/tv/motherland-2017.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Graham Linehan

> Linehan's sitcoms put small, furious people in rooms they cannot leave and watch them make everything worse. The jokes are built like clockwork, and the two programmes he is remembered for, *Father Ted* and *Black Books*, were written with someone else at the desk.

A Graham Linehan episode begins with a small vanity or a small lie and ends with somebody explaining to a full room why none of it is their fault. The characters are not clever enough to escape the situation and not humble enough to stop trying, and the comedy is in the gap. In *Black Books* (2000) the room is a bookshop and the man who cannot leave it is Dylan Moran's Bernard, who hates his customers, his friends and the daylight in roughly that order. The insults are the bit everyone quotes. The better bit, as we said when we reviewed it, is the sight gags, which are given exactly as much care as the lines.

He came to television from journalism, at the Dublin magazine Hot Press, where he met Arthur Mathews. The pair spent the 1990s writing sketches for other people, including *The Fast Show* (1994), *The Day Today* and *Brass Eye*, before *Father Ted* (1995–1998), a surreal comedy about Irish priests that made his name. *Big Train* (1998) kept the partnership going in sketch form. After that the collaborators change: *Black Books* with Moran, then *The IT Crowd* (2006–2013), a workplace comedy he wrote and directed himself and his longest solo run. He co-wrote the first series of *Motherland* (2017) and directed its pilot.

What works is the machinery. His ensembles have clear, fixed dynamics, and a running gag will be paid off three episodes after you have forgotten it. He also writes for supporting players, and *The IT Crowd* in particular did a good deal for the careers of people who were not its leads. What does not always work is knowing when to stop. Watching *Black Books* we laughed a great deal, and then caught ourselves waiting for Moran's next outburst rather than following the scene in front of us, because the episode had decided that the only way forward was further. Tamsin Greig is the corrective: she keeps an exchange alive while the men are shouting, and the programme is better whenever it remembers she is there.

The sourness travels well. *Motherland* is fast and unkind about the school gate and has, as we put it, no heart to speak of, which suits his method exactly. The weaker patches have been the projects since Mathews, some of which have struggled to find the same chemistry; *Count Arthur Strong* (2013–2017) is the usual example. Linehan has said as much himself: "I don’t think I’ll ever have as pleasurable a writing experience as I did writing with Arthur."

Start with *Black Books*, two episodes at a sitting. The third is where the escalation starts to feel like a tic, and it is kinder to the programme, and to yourself, to come back tomorrow.

## Biography

Graham Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and director. Born in Dublin in 1968, he began his career writing for television in the early 1990s, often in collaboration with Arthur Mathews. He co-created and wrote the sitcom *Father Ted* (1995–1998).

Linehan co-created *Black Books* (2000–2004) with Dylan Moran and created *The IT Crowd* (2006–2013). He has also written for *The Fast Show*, *Brass Eye* and *Big Train* (1998–2002), and contributed to *Motherland* and *Count Arthur Strong*. He has received multiple BAFTA awards and an International Emmy Award.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (11)

### Performed in (4)

- *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace* (2004), Fi1m 83, as Security Guard — [page](https://film.one/tv/garth-marenghis-darkplace.md)
- *Look Around You* (2002), Fi1m 83, as Athletics Coach — [page](https://film.one/tv/look-around-you.md)
- *I'm Alan Partridge* (1997), Fi1m 88, as Aidan Walsh — [page](https://film.one/tv/im-alan-partridge.md)
- *The Day Today* (1994), Fi1m 86, as Graham — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-day-today.md)

### Directed (3)

- *The IT Crowd* (2006), Fi1m 76, as Blind Irish Sorcerer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md)
- *Black Books* (2000), Fi1m 82, as Book Lover — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-books.md)
- *Father Ted* (1995), Fi1m 89, as Father Gallagher — [page](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *Motherland* (2017), Fi1m 74, Creator, Executive Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/motherland-2017.md)
- *Count Arthur Strong* (2013), Fi1m 62, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/count-arthur-strong.md)
- *The Fast Show* (1994), Fi1m 81, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fast-show.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Brass Eye* (1997), Fi1m 86, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/tv/brass-eye.md)

## Complete filmography (22)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Motherland* (2017), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/motherland-2017.md)
- *The Walshes* (2014), series, Creator
- *Count Arthur Strong* (2013), series, Creator — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/tv/count-arthur-strong.md)
- *The IT Crowd* (2006), series, as Mexican Singer, Blind Irish Sorcerer, Panicked Man · Director, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md)
- *Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit* (2005), Thanks — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/wallace-and-gromit-the-curse-of-the-were-rabbit.md)
- *AD/BC: A Rock Opera* (2004), as Townsfolk
- *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace* (2004), series, as Security Guard — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/garth-marenghis-darkplace.md)
- *Hello, Friend* (2003), Director, Writer
- *Look Around You* (2002), series, as Athletics Coach — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/look-around-you.md)
- *Black Books* (2000), series, as Man in Takeaway · Book Lover, Director, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-books.md)
- *Jam* (2000), series, Writer
- *Hippies* (1999), series, Creator
- *Big Train* (1998), series, Writer, Director, Creator
- *I'm Alan Partridge* (1997), series, as Aidan Walsh — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/im-alan-partridge.md)
- *The Matchmaker* (1997), Screenplay
- *Brass Eye* (1997), series, as Additional Writing — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/brass-eye.md)
- *Never Mind the Horrocks* (1996), Writer
- *Coogan's Run* (1995), series, Writer
- *Father Ted* (1995), series, as Father Gallagher · Writer, Producer, Director, Creator — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/father-ted.md)
- *Harry Enfield and Chums* (1994), series, as Additional Writing
- *The Fast Show* (1994), series, Writer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fast-show.md)
- *The Day Today* (1994), series, as Graham, Additional Writing — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-day-today.md)

## Gallery

- ![Graham Linehan](https://film.one/media/person/60269/gallery-89eb883554fc.jpg) Graham Linehan — re:publica from Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Graham_Linehan_-_2013_%288735745502%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Graham_Linehan_-_2013_%288735745502%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Graham Linehan 2013](https://film.one/media/person/60269/gallery-49b1ec1dde3d.jpg) Graham Linehan 2013 — re:publica from Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Graham_Linehan_2013_%288735745502%29.jpg/1280px-Graham_Linehan_2013_%288735745502%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Writers Graham Linehan (IT Crowd and Father Ted) and Jon Ronson (The Men who Stare at Goats). From day 2 of The Amazing Meeting London. October 17th 2010](https://film.one/media/person/60269/gallery-28c40b2de70c.jpg) Writers Graham Linehan (IT Crowd and Father Ted) and Jon Ronson (The Men who Stare at Goats). From day 2 of The Amazing Meeting London. October 17th 2010 — Stew Dean from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Graham_Linehan_and_Jon_Ronson_at_TAM_London_2010.jpg/1280px-Graham_Linehan_and_Jon_Ronson_at_TAM_London_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Writers Graham Linehan (IT Crowd and Father Ted) and Jon Ronson (The Men who Stare at Goats). From day 2 of The Amazing Meeting London. October 17th 2010](https://film.one/media/person/60269/gallery-b0aec4bf9a9e.jpg) Writers Graham Linehan (IT Crowd and Father Ted) and Jon Ronson (The Men who Stare at Goats). From day 2 of The Amazing Meeting London. October 17th 2010 — Stew Dean from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Graham_Linehan_at_TAM_London_2010.jpg/1280px-Graham_Linehan_at_TAM_London_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Norwich Pride 2018-155](https://film.one/media/person/60269/gallery-dc93ade2e15e.jpg) Norwich Pride 2018-155 — sasastro from Suffolk, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Norwich_Pride_2018-155_%2842874568735%29.jpg/1280px-Norwich_Pride_2018-155_%2842874568735%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/graham-linehan