Graham Linehan once had all the makings of an international treasure. The 57-year-old Irish writer is the creator of Father Ted, The IT Crowd and Black Books. On top of this, he had a hand in writing episodes of Little Britain, Motherland and Count Arthur Strong. His work has shaped many of the in-jokes and references that have become shorthand in the British and Irish vernacular today, from “down with that sort of thing” to calling football a “ludicrous display”. He has been the recipient of five BAFTAs, including Best Writer in the comedy category.
This used to be the way you would explain Graham Linehan’s cultural legacy. These were the little facts that topped his Wikipedia. Oh how things have changed: now, he’s double billed as an Irish comedy writer “and anti-transgender activist.” Not only has his career has collapsed, but his marriage has failed — outcomes which Linehan himself has admitted were due to his obsessive anti-trans activism.
