Tommy Tiernan ponders the role of his energetic Father Ted scene

Tommy Tiernan has opened up about the inadvertent role he may have played in the death of Father Ted star Dermot Morgan.

Tiernan guest starred in the final episode of the Channel 4 sitcom, playing the depressed Father Kevin, in what turned out to be a strenuous shoot.

'We finished recording on Friday. And Dermot died on the Saturday,' Tiernan told Jason Manford on his Absolute Radio show.

'There was a scene we had to do where Ted got a parish in America … he kept wanting to dance.

'And he had a bit of a belly, Dermot, God be good to him. And I kept getting the lines wrong, so he kept dancing, dancing and dancing.

'At one stage he said, "I can't do this anymore, I don't feel well. This isn't good, I really don't feel well." But it took me a few other goes to get the scene right.'

Morgan died of a heart attack the following night, February 28, 1998, at the age of 45.

'At the funeral, somebody came up to me and said: "You killed Father Ted' Tiernan recalled.

His revelation comes after Sir David Jason said he was a frontrunner to play the Craggy Island priest – but turned it down.

Tiernan, who begins filming the third series of Derry Girls next month, also suggested that these will be the final episodes for The Troubles-set sitcom.

'This is last series, I think. As far as I know this is the very last series' he told Manford.

'I feel lucky to be working with such funny people. There are two members of the cast that I can't look at because I laugh. It's enough to bring you out in sweats. Kathy Kiera Clarke who plays my sister in law… Kathy is one of the funniest people that I've ever worked with and I'm just not able to look at her.'

Published: 9 Mar 2020