Controversial BBC sitcom confirms return to TV after racist slur apology – and it's just weeks away
DATE SEALED Controversial BBC sitcom confirms return to TV after racist slur apology – and it's just weeks away
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A CONTROVERSIAL BBC sitcom has been confirmed to return to TV despite the show's star being forced to apologise over a racial slur.
The Beeb have officially revealed the show will be back for a fifth series and it's only weeks away.
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A controversial BBC sitcom has been confirmed to return to TV despite the show's star being forced to apologise over a racial slur
Credit: Graeme Hunter Pictures
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The Beeb have officially revealed the show will be back for a fifth series on August 1st
Credit: BBC
Mrs Brown's Boys will return for its fifth series on Friday 1st August at 9:30pm on BBC One.
The BBC tease: "Agnes Brown and the gang from Finglas are back!
"Everyone's favourite Irish Mammy returns for a brand new fifth series featuring all your favourite characters, so get ready for more slapstick shenanigans this spring!"
The BBC's head of comedy, Jon Petrie added: "Brendan has created an iconic comedy character in Agnes Brown.
"Mrs. Brown's Boys is a BAFTA-winning comedy show and one of the BBC's most-watched comedies ever. I'm proud to have it in the BBC Comedy stable."
The BBC have also reportedly commissioned a full series of a new comedy starring Mrs Brown's Boys star Brendan O'Carroll alongside Tommy Cannon.
Filming on the series is due to commence in July and will air on BBC One.
Titled Shedites, Mrs Brown's Boys star Brendan Carroll plays the lead role 'Jimmy', with Tommy Cannon starring as his best friend.
Produced by BBC Studios, Brendan's Mrs Brown's Boys co-writer Paddy Houlihan scripted Shedites.
Speaking to The Irish Sun in December 2023, Brendan shared: 'I've been advocating for the BBC to make this show for a long time because as well as being really funny, it highlights men's mental health.
Mrs Brown's Boys star insists racist joke at Christmas special filming 'was a good thing' for the BBC because it 'raised awareness'
'It's not something men talk about, but it's got easier because of the men's shed movement which has sprung up in UK and Ireland.
'There's a kitchen, a card table and all that but even more important, men can go there and talk through their problems.'
It comes following calls from Jon Petrie, The Director of Comedy at the BBC, to "save our sitcoms."
He previously said: "If our comedy eco-system is shrinking, then it's on all us to fight for the right of UK mainstream comedy to exist.
Best BBC comedies
A BBC boss called on the industry to "save our sitcoms", but the corporation has a history of fantastic shows.
We look back at some of the best to ever grace the screen.
Fawlty Towers (1975-1979) - Only two series were made of the beloved institution. However, the cultural impact of the series starring John Cleese and Connie Booth spans decades. It follows rude and intolerant Basil Fawlty (Cleese) as he attempts to improve the reputation of his hotel.
Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003) - The show was crowned by some as the best British sitcom of all time by a TV poll in 2004. Seven series were broadcast on BBC until 1991 with additional sporadic Christmas specials airing until 2003. Sir David Jason starred as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter whilst Nicholas Lyndhurst played his younger half-brother Rodney. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it follows the highs and lows of the lives of the Trotters', in particular their brazen attempts to get rich.
Blackadder (1983 - 1989) - Four series were made of the iconic show, created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. Each series spans a different historical period as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder (Atkinson) tries to better himself in each society. Accompanied by his dogsbody Baldrick (Tony Robinson), trouble always ensues. A TV poll in 2004 found that Blackadder was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time
Absolutely Fabulous (1992 - 2012) - Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley star as failing PR guru Edina 'Eddie' Monsoon and alcoholic fashionista Patsy Stone. The pair embark on heavy-drinking sessions and abuse drugs in a desperate attempt to stay 'hip'. Eddie constantly chases bizarre fads and fails to lose weight whilst her disappointed and neglected daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha) looks on.
Little Britain (2003 - 2006) - The premise is simple. A sketch show which features different British people from all walks of life that are engaged in all sorts of comical scenarios. Starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the pair created iconic pop culture characters. Viewers loved obnoxious council estate teenager Vicky Pollard, morbidly obese scrounger Bubbles Devere, slimming coach Marjorie Dawes, despondent office worker Carol Beer, disgraced politician Sir Norman Fry, of course the iconic Lou and Andy!
The Catherine Tate Show (2004-2015) - A sketch show starring the likes of Catherine Tate. She made iconic characters such as rowdy schoolgirl Lauren Cooper with her line 'Am I bovvered?'. Other characters featured Bernie the nurse, the aga saga woman, complaining couple Janice and Ray, and of course her infamous 'Nan', Joannie Taylor. The last character herself spawned multiple specials and even a movie.
Gavin and Stacey (2007 - Present) The series tells the story of Gavin (Matthew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page). The pair embarked on an online and telephone romance for six months. But when they finally decide to be together properly, their friends and family get in the way. Ruth Jones and James Corden created the beloved show, which has been going for over a decade. The 2019 Christmas special was the most-watched comedy in 17 years and the most-viewed non-sporting event in a decade.
"The sitcom isn't dead but it needs a couple of Berocca. And a black americano with two sugars."
News of the Mrs Browns boys return comes after Brendan O'Carroll was forced to issue a grovelling apology after he cracked a 'joke' using the N-word in front of a junior member of production who was so upset they later quit.
Last year, the BBC temporarily halted filming of the show's Christmas special after Brendan made the attempted gag which he later admitted it had backfired.
A TV insider said: 'Virtually everyone in the room on the day that the outburst happened were shocked, but the reading continued for some time without anyone saying or doing anything as they were so stunned.
'There was no excuses for what he said or any kind of context or mitigation he could provide for making the slur, he just seemed to think it was amusing.'
Brendan said of the incident: 'At a read-through of the Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials, there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, where a racial term was implied.
'It backfired and caused offence, which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.'
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