Father Ted and Tarot

A week or so ago I was at a friend's place, and as I don't watch a lot of TV he feels it is his mission to convert me. Fortuitously, he owns a lot of DVDs of the Vicar of Dibley and Murder Most Horrid (Dawn French is super-sexy!) so I'm always happy, and Flight of the Conchords, so my daughter is always happy.

Last week he sprung four or five episodes of Father Ted on us (and as I sit here remembering, I have that terrible theme-music going through my head!)

One episode, title unknown, featured a fair on Craggy Island, and in that fair was a brief shot of a Tarot reader.

I was fascinated by the deck, and I want opinions. I'd especially value Le Fanu's ideas - I have a gut feeling it's a deck right up his street, but any suggestions from anyone are very, very welcome.

I caught a glimpse of the backs. They were reversible, had narrow white borders, and a non-figurative pattern in a sort of oval cellular pattern featuring a lot of yellow in each cell, and some other matching colour (brown or fawn or peach or something).

I caught a glimpse of Death. He was an early-looking Death, obviously not any of the Marseilles Deaths that I've seen, but in a Marseilles or early Italian style. He had the scythe, he was facing and moving towards the right side of the card, he had a bony or ridged body that nonetheless wasn't exposed bone.

WHAT WAS THAT DECK?????

And ...

Has anyone got a copy they want to get rid of? My instant gut feeling was that it was OOP. (My intuition is not always right).

I WANT THAT DECK!

OMG i love father ted...feck off...lol

Arse! Drink! I'm not going to feck off until you bring me that deck! And a drink! Arse!

My family on my father's side is from the west of Ireland and it can get that strange sometimes! I vaguely recollect that deck - did the death card turn up several times?

I have ALL Father Ted on DVD..... It's WONDERFUL. You need to see the one where he gets lost in a lingerie department... and then there is Mrs Doyle. (You also need to see the one where he gave her a teasmade for Christmas...)

Was it the fair with the spinning cat ? I will go look later.

ETA I'm back. Fournier Marseilles. Usually pretty easy to find and cheap too.

Yup - still on alida etc. Under 15 euros.

ETA - yes, three deaths and she sat there saying "That's so weird, there's only supposed to be one card in the pack..." But she was good on it not meaning literal death. And given the rest of the episode - it was a good reading

So I find this thread when it's all been cleared up. No probs!

I always was surprised at how nice the Fournier Marseilles looked in the flesh. A friend of mine has it and it's really very nice close up...

Do you HAVE Father Ted handy ? Might have been tough without it.

And yes - it is a LOVELY deck - I am very fond of it.

ETA here is the death card, and the back (which on mine doesn't have a border, but maybe others do.) The black is NOT on the card; it's background.

and here is the scene... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILoi9RD1ack

This video contains content from Channel 4, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

Click to expand...

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No, I would never have got it without Father Ted handy!