Graham Linehan: Comedy show featuring Father Ted creator held outside Scottish parliament after second venue pulls out

A comedy show that was cancelled because the initial venue objected to the presence of Father Ted writer Graham Linehan has decided to put on a performance outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Earlier, Comedy Unleashed said a second venue had also pulled out, adding that details of a third location had been emailed to ticketholders.

“Our replacement venue has cancelled on us too, but we’re still going ahead tonight at 7.30!”, it posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

At 7.15pm, comedian Andrew Doyle tweeted that Linehan and the other acts “will do the gig on a small stage outside the Scottish parliament at Holyrood”.

He added: “This show is happening, whether these approve or not.”

It was initially due to be on in Leith, near Edinburgh.

But after hearing about Linehan’s place on the bill, Leith Arches said it was not made aware of the line-up in advance and believed the show was “not a good fit [for] our venue”.

Linehan, who also wrote TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, has been an outspoken critic of transgender self-identification.

He has said: “The most important view I have is that it is a crime against humanity to tell children that they may have been born in the wrong body.”

He also believes women deserve “fair sport” and said the likes of Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and tennis champion Martina Navratilova have been “abused” for their views on trans athletes.

Earlier this week, Linehan said he would consider taking legal action against Leith Arches.

In an interview with TalkTV on Wednesday, he told The Julia Hartley-Brewer Breakfast Show: “I actually would suggest that the Leith Arches reverse its course because they’ve said enough online for an easy win in the courts.

“So, if they apologise and put the gig on, I’ll say no more about it. But otherwise, I am going to be looking at legal action.”

In a statement to Sky News, Leith Arches said the show would have a “negative effect on future bookings” and was “not a good fit” for the venue.

A spokesperson said: “We are a very small independent business.

“We work very closely with the LGBT+ community – it is a considerable part of our revenue. We believe hosting this one-off event would have a negative effect on future bookings.”

‘Astonishing’

Doyle, who is also due to appear alongside Linehan at another Comedy Unleashed show in London next month, said: “It is astonishing that a comedy night at the largest arts festival in the world should be prevented from going ahead, simply because activists are offended.

“The comedy industry is in a dire state. It’s about time that promoters, venues, comedy critics and comedians made a concerted effort to support free expression in the arts.”