Mrs Brown’s Boys, 2011
We’ve said many a time, that in this day of reality TV and the race for the next big comedy, it’s very rare for a real gem that is likely to keep audiences laughing for generations to come to appear. However that is exactly what Mrs Brown’s Boys is, a true classic that will keep us laughing for many years.
The characters in Mrs Brown’s Boys originated in a series of books written by Brendan O’Carroll in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In March 2000, O’Carroll also wrote a book entitled Agnes Browne. This was adapted into a film with Angelica Huston playing Mrs Browne.
Following the success of the film, O’Carroll wrote a series of stories, adapted from the books, in which he played Mrs Browne (now spelled ‘Brown’) and cast the rest of the family — including many of his own relatives as characters. A series of seven, film-like adaptations was shown on Irish television between 2002 and 2008. During this time, O’Carroll took the show on the road, appearing in a series of Mrs Brown plays in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
In 2010, O’Carroll was approached to create a television series based on the show. He recruited the cast of the Irish TV adaptations and wrote a series of six thirty-minute episodes, together with an un-broadcast pilot, in order to encourage a network to pick up the series.
RTÉ One subsequently bought the broadcast rights and the first, six-part series began airing on the channel from 1 January to 5 February 2011. Here in the UK, the BBC bought the rights and the first episode was transmitted on 21 February 2011.
The TV series ran for 3 series over 18 episodes with O’Carroll stating he had always said 3 series would be the maximum. However there have ben Christmas Specials annually since 2011 and New Year specials all of which still air annually.
Summary
Meet Agnes Brown (played by Brendan O’Carroll), a loud mouthed Irish Matriarch, who’s favourite pastime is interfering in the lives of her six children.
Clips
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Cast
Brendan O’Carroll
Jennifer Gibney
Paddy Houlihan
Fiona O’Carroll
Danny O’Carroll
Eilish O’Carroll
Pat Shields
Amanda Woods
Rory Cowan
Gary Hollywood
Dermot O’Neil
Details
Channel: BBC1
Written By: Brendan O’Carroll
Original Transmission Dates: 21st February 2011 – 4th February 2013 (TV series)