original_network hippies 
Graham Linehan ( born 22 May 1968 ) is an Irish television comedy writer and director who , often in partnership with Arthur Mathews , has written or co - written a number of popular television comedies . He is most noted for the sitcoms " Father Ted ", " Black Books " and " The IT Crowd ". Amongst others , he has also worked on " Big Train ", " Count Arthur Strong ", " Brass Eye " and " The Fast Show ". Nicholas John " Nick " Frost ( born 28 March 1972 ) is a British actor , comedian , screenwriter , producer and author . He is best known for his work in the " Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy " of films , consisting of " Shaun of the Dead " ( 2004 ), " ___MASK53___ Fuzz " ( 2007 ), and " The World ' s End " ( 2013 ), and the television comedy " Spaced " ( 1999  2001 ). He also appeared in Joe Cornish ' s film " Attack the Block " ( 2011 ). He co - starred in the 2011 film " Paul ", which he co - wrote with frequent collaborator and friend Simon Pegg . He is also well known for his various roles in the sketch show " Man Stroke Woman ". He starred in " Mr . Sloane " as the title character , Jeremy Sloane . The ___MASK6___ ( commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine ) is an Australian commercial free - to - air television network , that is a division of Nine Entertainment Co . with headquarters based in Willoughby , a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney , Australia . The ___MASK6___ is one of three main free - to - air commercial networks in Australia . ___MASK81___ is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956 . As a public service broadcaster , the ABC provides ___MASK31___ non - commercial channels within Australia , and a partially advertising - funded satellite channel overseas . ABC is one of five main free - to - air networks in Australia . Black Books is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan that was broadcast on ___MASK79___ from 2000 to 2004 . Starring Moran , Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig , the series is set in the eponymous London bookshop and follows the lives of its owner Bernard Black ( Moran ), his assistant Manny Bianco ( Bailey ) and their friend Fran Katzenjammer ( Greig ). The series was produced by Big Talk Productions , in association with ___MASK79___ . Christmas or Christmas Day ( meaning " Christ ' s Mass ") is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ , observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world . A feast central to the Christian liturgical year , it is prepared for by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide , which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night ; in some traditions , Christmastide includes an Octave . The traditional Christmas narrative , the Nativity of Jesus , delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem , in accordance with messianic prophecies ; when Joseph and Mary arrived in the ___MASK72___ , the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born , with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then disseminated the message furthermore . Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world ' s nations , is celebrated religiously by the vast majority of Christians , as well as culturally by a number of non - Christian people , and is an integral part of the holiday season , while some Christian groups reject the celebration . In several countries , celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25 , with gift - giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family . Darren John Boyd ( born 30 January 1971 in Hastings , Sussex ) is an English actor who starred in the Sky 1 series " Spy ", for which he won a BAFTA award . His work in television and film spans comedy and drama . Hippies is a six - part British television comedy series broadcast from 12 November to 17 December 1999 . It was created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan , the writing partnership most famous for Father Ted , but the scripts were written by Mathews alone . It starred Simon Pegg , Sally Phillips , Julian Rhind - Tutt and Darren Boyd . ___MASK79___ is a British public - service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982 . Although largely commercially self - funded , it is ultimately publicly owned ; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority ( IBA ), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation , a public corporation of the Department for Culture , Media & Sport , which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993 . With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010 , ___MASK79___ became a UK - wide TV channel for the first time . Brass Eye is a British comedy series parodying the current affairs news programming of the mid 1990s . A series of six episodes aired on ___MASK79___ in 1997 , and a further episode in 2001 . The series was created by Chris Morris , written by Morris , David Quantick , Peter Baynham , Jane Bussmann , Arthur Mathews , Graham Linehan and Charlie Brooker and directed by Michael Cumming . Big Train is a surreal British television comedy sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan , writers of the successful sitcom " Father Ted ". The first series was broadcast on ___MASK43___ in 1998 , while the second , in which Linehan was not involved , aired in 2002 . Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on ___MASK79___ . The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen , Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips . There were also regular appearances from Sarah Alexander , Darren Boyd and Cavan Clerkin . The show ' s popular theme tune was Dusty Springfield ' s song " In the Middle of Nowhere ", sung by Jackie Clune . As well as the three principal cast members , the show was written by a large number of writers , the core of which went on to write " Green Wing " and " Campus ". In Germany , the first transmission of the show aired on ProSieben , where the theme tune was changed to Texas ' 2001 version of " I Don ' t Want a Lover ", and featured a different title sequence . Julian Alistair Rhind - Tutt ( born 20 July 1967 ) is an English actor . He is best known for his starring role as ___MASK58___ " Mac " Macartney in the comedy television series " Green Wing ", the second series of which finished on ___MASK79___ in May 2006 . He has also appeared in various other television shows and films . ___MASK53___ Fuzz is a 2007 British satirical action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright , written by Wright and Simon Pegg , and starring Pegg and Nick Frost . The three and the film ' s producer Nira Park had previously worked together on the television series " Spaced " and the 2004 film " Shaun of the Dead ". The film follows two police officers attempting to solve a series of mysterious deaths in Sandford , a fictional small English town . Sally Elizabeth Phillips ( born 10 May 1970 ) is an English actress and comedian . She co - created and was ___MASK69___ of the writers of sketch comedy show " Smack the Pony ". She is also known for her main role in " Miranda " as Tilly , " Parents " as Jenny Pope and " Set the Thames on Fire " as Colette in 2015 . Phillips also co - starred in " Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ", as Mrs Bennet , and reprised her role as Sharon in the 2016 film " Bridget Jones ' s Baby ", following " Bridget Jones ' s Diary " and "". Simon John Pegg (" né " Beckingham ; born 14 February 1970 ) is an English actor , comedian , screenwriter , and producer . He co - wrote and starred in the " Three Flavours Cornetto " trilogy of films : " Shaun of the Dead " ( 2004 ), " ___MASK53___ Fuzz " ( 2007 ), and " The World ' s End " ( 2013 ). He and Nick Frost wrote and starred in the sci - fi film " Paul " ( 2011 ). Pegg portrayed Benji Dunn in the and Montgomery Scott in " Star Trek " ( 2009 ), " Star Trek Into Darkness " ( 2013 ), and " Star Trek Beyond " ( 2016 ), co - writing the latter . The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by ___MASK79___ , written by Graham Linehan ( who also created and wrote Father Ted ), produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O ' Dowd , Richard Ayoade , Katherine Parkinson , and Matt Berry . Sussex ( abbreviated Sx ), from the Old English " Sþsaxe " ( South Saxons ), is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex . It is bounded to the west by Hampshire , north by Surrey , north - east by Kent , south by the English Channel , and divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the ___MASK72___ of Brighton and Hove . Brighton and Hove was created as a unitary authority in 1997 , and granted ___MASK72___ status in 2000 . Until then , Chichester was Sussex ' s only ___MASK72___ . Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting . Among the earliest ___MASK93___ programmes in the 1930s was " Starlight ", which offered a series of guests from the music hall era , which often included singers and comedians . Similarly , many early United States television programs were variety shows including the " Texaco Star Theater " featuring Milton Berle ; comedy acts often taken from vaudeville were staples of such shows . Father Ted is a sitcom that was produced by British independent production company Hat Trick Productions for ___MASK79___ . Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast , it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998 , including a Christmas special , for a total of 25 episodes . The show also aired on RTÉ Two in Ireland , and in Australia on Nine Network ( series 1 ) and ABC Television ( series 2 and 3 ).