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Telegraph
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
My Mrs Brown's Boys endurance test: I cried, cringed and almost laughed
Television's most divisive sitcom is back. Mrs Brown's Boys – widely reviled by critics but adored by millions of viewers – returned to BBC One on Friday night for a fresh four-part run. The full box set is available on BBC iPlayer, so fans can binge them all at once. And that's exactly what I'm doing: watching all four episodes back-to-back and chronicling my experience in an effort to understand the Mrs Brown phenomenon. Along the way, I'm going to keep a tally of the laughs and also those moments of pathos that prompt the studio audience into a collective, 'Aww'. Are the critics correct and it's really an unfunny aberration? Or are they hopelessly out of touch and, actually – steady yourselves – the show is rather good? With a four-pack of Guinness to hand (Irish stereotyping be damned), I press play with an open heart, hoping to be entertained… Episode 1: The Mammy Effect Those cartoon opening credits slightly set my teeth on edge, but let's not write it off just yet… 1 min: Proceedings open, as is traditional, with Agnes Brown (creator Brendan O'Carroll) talking directly to camera from her home in the scrappy Dublin suburb of Finglas. Grandad (Dermot O'Neill) is 'not feeling himself' and more armchair-bound than usual. 'Aww,' choruses the studio audience. 3 mins: Mrs Brown has a heart-to-heart with daughter Cathy (Jennifer Gibney, O'Carroll's real-life wife – confused yet?). Upon hearing that Cathy has a new boyfriend, Agnes is unimpressed: 'He'll pump you and dump you, then we'll all have to listen to Enya for a month while you survive on a diet of ice cream and vengeance.' Actually a well-written, well-observed line. Who knew? 5 mins: Thus begins the main plot of the episode: Cathy launching a new podcast . Mrs Brown's Boys is often dismissed as wilfully old-fashioned, but this feels pleasingly modern. 9 mins: Straight-talking Agnes unwittingly hijacks the podcast and becomes its breakout star. While this all-too-predictable turn of events sends Cathy into a tailspin, it becomes clear that the storyline is actually about their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship, whereby the controlling Agnes accidentally ends up ruining everything that Cathy does. 18 mins: Eldest son Mark (Pat 'Pepsi' Shields) tries and fails to move Grandad from his armchair. 'It's pointless, Ma,' he sighs. Mrs Brown replies: 'Pointless? Could be worse. It could be The Chase.' O'Carroll apologises for this seemingly ad-libbed quip and the cast reset the scene. It's all part of the show's intentionally chaotic filming style. 21 mins: Breast-feeding, menopause, penises. Yep, we're back to the nudges, winks and lowest-common-denominator material. 29 mins: Time for the industry-standard happy ending. Mrs Brown admits that 'mothers can be cruel without realising' and 'we expect more of our daughters than we do of our sons'. This is verging on profound. Episode 2: Mammy's Talent We're back at the kitchen table for Mrs Brown's opening monologue. It's a misty-eyed riff on her impoverished upbringing with a couple of decent lines. 'My father invested all his money in sick horses. He didn't know they were sick when he backed them.' 'Growing up, all I had was hand-me-downs. I was the only girl in my ballet class with football boots.' Worthy of a 1970s club comic. 2 mins: Grandad drops the bombshell that he's planning to move into a care home, a prospect that makes Agnes panic and vow to find out why. This is followed by a volley of genitalia jokes. 4 mins: Mrs Brown gets a visit from her nemesis, local busybody Hilary Nicholson (comedy veteran Susie Blake, playing one of her trademark snobbish Englishwomen). Offered tea, she asks: 'Have you got anything herbal?' Agnes shrugs: 'My shampoo?' And, yes, I chuckle. 6 mins: As the action shifts to the pub, the Hilary baiting continues as she pompously quotes Latin. 'I've got the vox populi ' (Agnes: 'Well, keep using the cream twice a day'). Come for the toilet humour, stay for the classical references. 12 mins: Grandad unleashes a loud 'Feck off!' at parish priest Father Damien (Conor Moloney). O'Carroll has clearly been taking notes in front of Father Ted repeats. 15 mins: Everybody laments how sad it will be when Grandad leaves. Cue another round of 'Awws'. Mournful piano music strikes up. They're really milking this, but I can't help being drawn in and whimper slightly into my Guinness. 17 mins: Light relief comes from a talent show in the pub. 23 mins: Birdie overcomes her stage fright to lead an arm-swaying, lighters-aloft sing-along of 'That's What Friends Are For'. There's not a dry eye in Foley's Bar. Or, in fact, on my sofa. Sob! 25 mins: Happy ending time again. Agnes finally admits how she doesn't want Grandad to leave and begs him to stay. Before it gets too soppy, they exchange potty-mouthed insults and normal service is resumed. Phew. Time to open a second can of Guinness. Episode 3: Motor Mammy I feared this would be an endurance test. While I wouldn't say I'm a total Mrs Brown convert – not yet, anyway – I am enjoying it much more than I'd expected. Hang on, let me check the strength of this Guinness. 1 mins: We're flung straight into this episode's storyline: Winnie's impending driving test. Will the pedestrians of Dublin ever be safe again? These ponderous jokes aren't pulling their weight. I might have spoken too soon when it comes to enjoying myself. 3 mins: Buster and Dermot make their weekly entrance. This time, they're dressed in insect costumes, promoting pest control. At least the quality of the gags improves slightly. Birdie says: 'I was going to start a celebrity magazine for the elderly. I was going to call it 'HELLOOOOOO?' 5 mins: Uh-oh. Birdie has lost her pet snake. Something tells me this will become crucial later in the episode. 10 mins: A pub gossip session throws up some more resolutely unreconstructed gags. One woman's teeth are described as 'only short of the white one for a full snooker set'. 14 mins: Hilary has been campaigning for a new bus depot and now we learn why – her husband has lost his high-flying job and is secretly working as a bus driver. Even Agnes feels sorry for them. All together now: 'Aww.' 17 mins: Winnie's driving test arrives. So does a veritable traffic jam of phallic innuendoes. Just when Mrs Brown's Boys ambushes me with its emotional resonance, it reverts to type. 21 mins: Wait, I spoke too soon. There's a shock plot twist. Winnie is understandably distracted at the wheel by the presence of a snake inside the car. The vehicle mounts the pavement and hits a pedestrian. who turns out to be… dramatic pause… Mrs Brown. Cue gasps. 22 mins: With our heroine in an induced coma, family and friends gather at her hospital bedside. They share happy memories, which is essentially a chance to rewind some classic clips – including the infamous bikini wax. 27 mins: Ordained deacon Trevor Brown (Martin Delany) says fondly of Agnes: 'I remember how kind Mammy was when I told her I wanted to join the missions. She just smiled and said, 'A lot of men are gay'.' Mrs Brown's Boys might be written off as politically incorrect, but it occurs to me that it's more diverse than many assume,with the family spanning four generations. It boasts gay characters, priests, lonely widows and sexually active pensioners. It also happens to star a man in drag. 28 mins: Has tragedy struck? A consultant tells the assembled family that they need to turn the machine off. A cliffhanger leaves things agonisingly poised for the series finale. We play out with a poignant piano version of the theme song and a beeping heart monitor. Soapy but effective. Episode 4: Easy Rider Mammy There's a rare 'Previously on Mrs Brown's Boys…' pre-titles recap. Does that mean no title sequence for once? 1 min: No, here it comes. Even these cartoon credits are growing on me. I find myself humming along to the theme song. Worrying. 2 min: Sharp intakes of breath when bungling GP Dr Flynn (Derek Riddin) says, 'She's gone.' False alarm. Mammy merely has a herniated disc. Phew. As for 'turning off the machine', the consultant meant Birdy's noisy coffee machine. I feel manipulated but relieved. 4 mins: 'I'm home!' trills a familiar voice. Mrs Brown makes her entrance on a mobility scooter to a raucous reception. 9 mins: Another peek behind the comedy curtain as Agnes drives her granny wagon from one set to another, chatting to the camera crew as she goes. If Fleabag had done this, it would have been hailed as avant-garde genius. 12 mins: The mobility scooter causes more mayhem at the Wash & Blow salon. Never let it be said that Mrs Brown doesn't milk a gag for every last drop. 19 mins: Dermot and Buster present Agnes with a surprise gift: an automatic recline-and-rise armchair. Hark, I hear more slapstick opportunities coming over the horizon. 27 mins: A chaotic final sequence sees Agnes wearing a sombrero (best not to ask) and getting rumbled for faking her injuries. Yes, she can walk after all. It's a medical miracle. As everyone takes her to task , she slumps into her new armchair. It promptly malfunctions, blows up and throws her across the room. After one last cuppa, we roll credits on the series. Mercifully, my Mrs Brown's Boys marathon is at an end. But what have I learnt? Yes, what have I learnt? To my surprise, I realise I have actually been sucked in by the pathos of several storylines. The humour might be hit-and-miss, but the emotion isn't. This is a show about family, friendship and community. Unfashionable topics in our fractured age, perhaps, but the new series does have huge warmth… Sure, it's frequently panto-adjacent (oh, yes it is), but it also plays with the sitcom form, with fourth-wall breaks and knowing nods to its own artifice. It's unabashedly working class and exists far outside the metropolitan bubble. The liberal elite might blanch, but it's not for them. Ratings have declined from a blockbuster peak of 11 million, but it still pulls in 4 million loyal viewers – figures that most comedies (and many dramas) would kill for. In an era when critically lauded comedies often struggle to get recommissioned, such review-proof longevity is surely to be applauded. I'll raise a pint of the black stuff at Foley's Bar to that. Mrs Brown's Boys airs on Fridays at 9.30pm on BBC One. The whole series is available on BBC iPlayer now
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Mrs Brown's Boys review: It's surely time for this dreary and unfunny series to fade from our screens
Brendan O'Carroll recently confessed he 'didn't know the secret' of the popularity of his chortling blockbuster, Mrs Brown's Boys ( RTÉ One, Friday). He isn't the only one – since first airing on RTÉ and the BBC in 2011, the lowbrow sitcom has soared ever higher. The iffier the humour, the healthier the ratings – and the more vitriolic the reviews. Some 14 years in, though, might the gloss have gone off his famous Finglas mammy? Viewing figures are down, and people who previously enjoyed hating the show appear largely indifferent to its return. Nor does O'Carroll himself seem all that engaged during a dreary and unfunny opening episode in which Agnes discovers the joys of podcasting while working through a row with daughter Cathy (O'Carroll's off-screen wife Jennifer Gibney). Jennifer Gibney, Simon Delaney, Brendan O'Carroll and the cast in Mrs Brown's Boys. Photograph: Graeme Hunter/BBC Studios/BOC The biggest disappointment is how slick the whole thing is. There aren't any of the fluffed lines that in the past gave Mrs Brown a seat-of-the-pants charm, while O'Carroll breaks the fourth wall just once, riffing when a character says that something is 'pointless'. 'It could be worse, I could be the chase,' he says – a reference to two popular quizshows (Pointless and The Chase), which raises a guffaw or two before the scene is restaged. [ Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas Special review: Unkillable comedy's wit is as sharp as a mouthful of Brussels sprouts Opens in new window ] Agnes and Cathy have a falling-out after Cathy takes up with a fancy-pants podcaster, Roger, who says he wants to improve her 'diction' – a hilarious word which O'Carroll mines for several gags. Somewhat inevitably, Roger is played by Simon Delaney , the Dublin character actor who has graced every TV show ever set in Ireland (including this one – he portrayed a different character in the 2014 film Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie). READ MORE Eilish O'Carroll as Winnie, Brendan O'Carroll as Agnes, June Rodgers as Birdie and Simon Delaney as Roger. Photograph: Graeme Hunter/BBC Studios/BOC Delaney is a good actor, which means that his performance has a jarring quality when set against the pantomime elbow-nudges that are Mrs Brown's stock in trade. You can tell he's a top thesp because he stays in character as the dialogue plumbs the depths, such as when Agnes's pal Birdie (June Rodgers) replies to Cathy's assertion that Roger wants to exploit the 'gap in the market' by saying: 'I've had a few Rogers exploit my gap in the market!' There is no God, and we are all staring into the void. Aside from jokes drop-kicked in from the mid-1970s, Mrs Brown's Boys' most consistent quality is its sentimentality, which, as ever, is laid on with a rolling pin. The syrup is uncorked with a vengeance as Agnes uses the podcast to talk about how mothers and daughters don't always get along and then discusses her love for Cathy. It is massively mawkish – one more sign that, after a decade-plus of delighting fans and scandalising the snobs, the time may have come for Mrs Brown to fade to grey.
The Sun
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Worst show the BBC has EVER aired' returns to TV tonight – after racism controversy and apology
A SHOW that viewers dubbed as the 'worst ever on the BBC' returns to screens tonight despite being shrouded in controversy. Mrs Brown's Boys has been a magnet for criticism since its launch and came under fire amid a racism scandal last year involving its lead star and creator, Brendan O'Carroll. 3 3 It first launched in 2011 and now it will begin its fifth full-length series this evening. Currently scheduled to air at 9:30pm, it seems like telly watchers will be opting not to tune in after branding it the 'worst' show ever. Commenting on the programme on X: "Worst programme in human history should've never been commissioned." Another added: "Just speechless... I honestly don't know one person who thinks this show is remotely funny." A third also posted: "I don't know anyone who will admit to liking, or even just watching, this show." Brendan was forced to apologise over a racial joke but later told how he thought it was a "good thing" for the BBC as it allowed them to raise awareness. Crew were left 'shocked' when O'Carroll made a racial slur during rehearsals for the beloved comedy's Christmas special and complained to bosses. Production was suspended whilst the Beeb launched an investigation and he later said he 'deeply regretted' his "clumsy attempt at a joke". However, he bizarrely shared his belief the BBC came out of it well, as it showed they took action. Brendan said: 'The one thing that that incident did is give great awareness about racism, and great awareness about the BBC, they don't take any messing. 'The context of it… it was completely taken out of context 'However I think in the long run it was a good thing, because it got people talking about it.' Brendan was speaking for the first time about the row on an Irish YouTube show, Conversations With Gerry Kelly.
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The 'worst show the BBC has ever broadcast' returns TONIGHT - just months after the controversial series had its lowest ratings ever
The fifth series of Mrs Brown's Boys will return to our screens this Friday (1 August 2025) - just months after the controversial series had its lowest ratings. It comes after the return of the BBC show was confirmed last month - despite pleas from viewers and scandal surrounding the show's creator. Mrs Brown's Boys, created and written by Brendan O'Carroll, hit BBC One in 2011. The programme has gone on to air 51 episodes across four seasons on the channel. BBC iPlayer's synopsis reads: 'Loud-mouthed Irish matriarch Agnes Brown's favourite pastime is meddling in the lives of her six children. Sauciness and slapstick.' It stars the likes of Brendan O'Carroll, Jennifer Gibney, Eilish O'Carroll, Danny O'Carroll, Rory Cowan, Fiona O'Carroll, Pat Shields, Paddy Houlihan and Amanda Woods. Although the programme is returning this evening at 9:30pm, the sitcom has definitely received mixed reviews over the years, with many failing to connect with its humour. One previously wrote on X: 'Worst programme in human history should've never been commissioned.' 'Just speechless... I honestly don't know one person who thinks this show is remotely funny.' 'I don't know anyone who will admit to liking, or even just watching, this show.' Despite that others have recently shared their praise over the show, with one saying: 'Love love love Mrs Brown's Boys.' 'MRS BROWNS BOYS IS BACK TOMORROW.' 'Can't wait for it. If that humor isn't for you, don't watch it. It's been on long enough now to know what to expect, yet people still choose to watch it anyway.' Mrs Brown's Boys was last on our screens during the festive period. The 2024 Christmas special saw its ratings plummet to the lowest ever, with viewers claiming it 'ruined' their holiday spirit. The sitcom attracted a measly 2.2m viewers on Christmas Day, which was a huge drop from the 11.5m who turned into the show's 2013 December 25 special. While Mrs Brown's Boys struggled in the ratings, elsewhere on BBC1, Gavin and Stacey: The Finale was the most watched show of the festive season with 12.5m, while Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl attracted 9.5m. The latest episode of Mrs Brown's Boys, which has previously been described as 'marmite television ', saw the Irish matriarch trying to convince her family that she was not grumpy like Scrooge, but those at home described it as 'spectacularly unfunny'. And while the TV show has certainly ruffled a lot of feathers, creator and star Brendan made a brutal comeback to the negative comments. Speaking on the Conversations with Gerry Kelly podcast back in 2024, Brendan said: 'The ones that love me, I love them, and the ones that don't, f*** them.' The return was announced back in July. The BBC said: '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!' While BBC comedy boss John Petrie said: '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.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Is Mrs Brown's Boys' Brendan O'Carroll a genius post-modernist satirist? Has he spoofed us all?
What is there left to say about Mrs Brown's Boys? Brendan O'Carroll's rickety trad-com continues to loom over the TV landscape, until recently seeming as indestructible as a cockroach and as inevitable as a tax return. On the face of it, last year's racism scandal – in which 'a racial term was implied' during a rehearsal for a Christmas special – has made little or no difference to the show's continuing viability. Certainly not enough of a dent to prevent a fifth season arriving on BBC One. But why? In the light of its mystifying longevity, is it time for a reappraisal? Is it time for snooty critics to have another look at the show and maybe another look at themselves into the bargain? Well, no. Season five of Mrs Brown's Boys is business as usual, and that business isn't funny. In fact, the opening episode acts as a neat, almost defiant restatement of the show's impoverished comic modus operandi. Cathy (Jennifer Gibney) is trying to launch a podcast about 'interesting women'. Inevitably, O'Carroll's Agnes blunders into recording range and ruins everything. This was always going to happen. But as ever, it's the little details that reveal the whole picture. The podcast is being produced by a man called Roger. Because of course it is. 'Roger wants to get on top of my diction,' says Cathy at one point. No prizes for guessing where this might be going. The obviousness of feed and punchline is so unapologetic that there's almost a zen beauty to them: it's like watching the fractal patterns of nature in stop-motion and understanding that everything fits in its own place and makes perfect cosmic sense. Only with dick gags. At times, it's less like being told a series of jokes and more like watching someone attempting a practical explanation of the concept of jokes to a slow-witted child. In fact, you occasionally wonder if the whole thing is an elaborate, long-running art prank critiquing the formulaic nature of sitcom writing and whether, just to cover ourselves in the event of a triumphant reveal, critics should be hedging their bets slightly about the show's true intentions. Is Brendan O'Carroll a genius post-modernist satirist? Has he spoofed us all? If so, hats off to the man. But it's probably not that. Much more likely is that, for the BBC, Mrs Brown's Boys has fulfilled a very particular purpose. The show's anachronistic aesthetic is not a bug but a feature. It occupies a very specific place in the culture. Mrs Brown's Boys is many things, but 'woke' it is not. The BBC likes to maintain at least one definitively anti-woke fig-leaf; something it can point to when criticised by the media rottweilers of the hard right. Top Gear, with its blokes-on-the-Bombardier bombast, fulfilled a similar role for years. However, in this context, the Mrs Brown's Boys racism scandal was important, because it seemed to confirm something that had always been implied about the values underpinning the show. The exact content of the 'joke' has never been fully revealed but it was reportedly offensive enough to be followed by the resignation of a Black member of the production team. Prophetically, and somewhat mischievously, in 2018, YouGov devoted a whole tranche of polling to the show. No surprises really emerged: seven in 10 fans of the show were aged 45 or above and 62 per cent of fans voted Leave in the EU referendum. None of this is in and of itself an argument against the show, of course: the BBC is supposed to be a broad church and everyone who buys a TV licence can reasonably demand to have their taste represented. But the very fact that the research was commissioned confirmed Mrs Brown's Boys' position as a culture war bellwether. In 2018, the BBC could still point to the numbers. Mrs Brown's Boys was still extremely popular. But even then, signs of decline were in evidence. That year's Christmas special drew 7.9 million viewers. Not bad, but the show's 2013 Christmas Special had been watched by 9.4 million people. The 2024 Christmas Special drew a mere 2.2 million. There is a fascinating question to be asked about what might have happened in the interim period to make over seven million viewers decide that, no, this once-cherishable show was no longer for them. But we might simply be looking at natural attrition here. If Mrs Brown's Boys seemed a show out of its own time in 2013, in 2025 its continuing presence in the schedules feels like an increasingly absurd anomaly. The quality control hasn't dipped; it's as non-existent as it ever was. But now, hardly anyone cares. Instead, with a whimper rather than a bang, the show is simply grinding to a halt. For everyone's sake, it's time for a mercy killing. 'Mrs Brown's Boys' season five begins on BBC One at 9.30pm on Friday 1 August
