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Mrs. Brown's Boys

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Mrs. Brown's Boys
File:Mrs. Brown's Boys titlecard.jpg‎
Mrs. Brown's Boys titlecard
GenreComedy
Created byBrendan O'Carroll
Written byBrendan O'Carroll
Directed byBen Kellett
Creative directorChris Cleveland
StarringBrendan 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'Neill
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes7 + christmas special
as of 2 January 2012 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerStephen McCrum
EditorMark Lawrence
Running time35 minutes (Ireland)
28 minutes (United Kingdom)
Original release
NetworkBBC One
RTÉ One
BBC One HD
Release1 January 2011 (2011-01-01) –
present

Mrs Brown's Boys is a sitcom created by and starring Irish writer-performer Brendan O'Carroll, who plays the title character Mrs. Brown. The programme is a co-production between BBC Scotland and BocPix in association with RTÉ.

In Ireland, Mrs Brown's Boys is broadcast on RTÉ One. The first series premiered on 1 January 2011 and finished on 5 February 2011. While the second series premiered on 26 December 2011. In the United Kingdom, Mrs Brown's Boys airs on BBC One and BBC One HD; the first series began broadcasting on 21 February 2011.

Following the success of the first series, RTÉ and the BBC commissioned a second series. It was later announced by both broadcasters that a third series had also been commissioned to air in late 2012, while the second series began broadcasting on 1 January 2012 on RTÉ One and on 2 January 2012 on BBC One.

A Christmas special which was shown on 25 December 2011 on RTÉ One (and on 26 December 2011 on BBC One) was the most watched television programme in the Republic of Ireland over the holiday season.[1]

Cast

Many of the main cast is played by O'Carroll's family. For example, Cathy Brown is played by his wife, Winnie McGoogan by his sister, Maria Nicholson by his daughter, Buster Brady by his son and Betty Brown by his daughter-in-law.[2] The character of Dermot, is played by the actor who was also a very close family friend, and regarded very much as his real life adopted son.

Characters

  • Brendan O'Carroll as Mrs. Agnes Brown - A loud foul-mouthed Irish matriarch who is always looking out for her family after the death of her husband. Agnes seems to be a very nosy woman who is very interested in other peoples lives. She takes great pleasure in making a fool of her neighbour and best friend Winnie and her father-in-law.
  • Jennifer Gibney as Cathy Brown - Cathy is Agnes's daughter. She is a lonely woman who is on the look-out for a man but is always put off by her mother by what she has to say to her.
  • Paddy Houlihan as Dermot Brown - Dermot is Agnes's son and is commonly seen in giant costumes, like his penguin costume or cigarette butt costume promoting things like penguin biscuits and to stop smoking. Dermot is always in trouble with the law with his friend Buster Brady
  • Fiona O'Carroll as Maria Nicholson - Maria is Agnes's daughter-in-law and is married to Dermot. She is a nurse who is from a wealthy family and always seems to be quiet.
  • Eilish O'Carroll as Winnie McGoogan - Winnie is Agnes's next door neighbour and best friend. She is always seen either in Foley's Bar or at the kitchen table with Agnes. She is a quiet, harmless soul and is always made a fool of by Agnes. She is married to Jacko McGoogan who is an unseen character who is usually ill or accident prone.
  • Danny O'Carroll as Buster Brady - Buster is Dermot's best friend and is not well liked by Agnes, who he is feared by. He was the best man at Dermot and Maria's wedding.
  • Pat Shields as Mark Brown - Mark is another of Agnes's sons. Mark is known to have a nice house with his wife Betty and his son. We find out that Mark never learned to read and write at the school, for which Agnes took the blame, but when Cathy pointed out that it was the teacher's fault she exclaimed "The Bastards!".
  • Amanda Woods as Betty Brown - Betty is Agnes's daughter-in-law and is married to Mark. She and Mark have a son.
  • Rory Cowan as Rory Brown - Rory is Agnes's homosexual son but fears announcing his sexuality to his mother because she will be ashamed. When she finally finds out she confronts Rory and says "I know about your illness."
  • Gary Hollywood as Dino Doyle Dino is Rory's friend and is also gay. He is a chef and cooked for when Maria's mother and Agnes had dinner together.
  • Dermot O'Neill as Grandad - Grandad is Agnes' father-in-law and is always made a fool of. He seems to be quite a senile man and is always complaining, which makes Agnes mad.
  • Martin Delany as Trevor Brown (Series 2-) - Anges' youngest son. He joined the missionaries.
  • Sorcha Cusack (Series 1); Susie Blake (Series 2-) as Hilary Nicholson - Maria's mother.

The character has previously appeared in the film Agnes Browne, played by Angelica Huston, and, along with the family, a bringing into the 21st century the characters in the book The Mammy and its sequels, also written by O'Carroll.

Filming

The show is filmed in Scotland at the BBC Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow[3] and is recorded in front of a live audience meaning no laughter track is used in the show. The programme uses a laissez-faire style of production in which the audience, cameras and production crew are often seen; the main character often breaks the fourth wall by talking straight to camera.

Reception

Mrs Brown's Boys was a ratings success upon its initial broadcast in Ireland. Every episode aired won its timeslot for RTÉ, with an average viewership of 753,500 in January 2011. One episode's rating beat that of RTÉ's own ratings giant The Late Late Show, with 856,000 viewers tuning in to watch.[4]

However, some critics disliked the show. "The whole thing is entirely predicated on viewers finding a man dressed as a foul-mouthed elderly woman intrinsically funny", noted Bernice Harrison, TV reviewer with The Irish Times. "If you do, you're away in a hack (and the viewing figures are astronomical), but if you don't, and you think that died out with Les Dawson and Dick Emery, then it's a long half-hour." [5] The Irish Independent said that Mrs Brown's Boys was the type of TV programme that "that makes you vaguely embarrassed to be Irish".[6] The 2011 Christmas episode was the most-watched TV show in Ireland over the holiday season, with a 48.6 per cent audience share.[1]

Internationally it has been well-received. Its opening in the UK won 16.4% of the ratings in its Monday night slot and was received well by viewers,[7] but British critics were equally damning. Despite the critical reviews, 2.9 million viewers had tuned in by the third episode.[8][9][10] In 2011 it was nominated for a BAFTA award at the British Academy Television Awards.[11] The 2011 Christmas Special achieved 6.61 million viewers, winning in its 10PM time-slot.[12]

Future

A second series was referenced by a BBC One continuity announcer at the end of the first series. This was later confirmed by the show's producer, Stephen McCrum and through the show's Facebook page. It began airing with a Christmas special which premiered on 26 December 2011. A third series was also commissioned, notably before the second series went on air.[13]

Ratings

Series average

Series Timeslot Premiere Finale Average Viewers (m)
1 Mondays 10.45pm February 22, 2011 March 28, 2011 2.82

Series 1 BBC ratings

Episode # Title Air Date Share Viewers
1 "The Mammy" 22 February 2011 16.4% 2.64m[14]
2 "Mammy's Secret" 28 February 2011 18.2% 2.63m[15]
3 "Mammy's Merchandise" 9 March 2011 19.5% 2.68m [16]
4 "Mammy Rides Again" 14 March 2011 22.4% 2.99m [17]
5 "Mammy of the Groom" 21 March 2011 21% 2.96m [18]
6 "Mammy's Miracle" 28 March 2011 20.5% 3.01m [19]

Christmas Special BBC ratings

Episode # Title Air Date Share Viewers
7 "Mammy's Ass" 26 December 2011 28.1% 6.61m [12]

aViewers in millions.
All viewer figures are from BARB.[20]

Series 2 BBC ratings

Episode # Title Air Date Share Viewers
1 "Mammy Pulls it Off" 2 January 2012 19.8% 5.2m
2 "Mammy's Coming!" 9 January 2012

Home media

DVD release

DVD Title # of Disc(s) Year # of Episodes DVD release
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Mrs Brown's Boys - Series One 2 2011 6 — 3 October 2011[21] —

Blu-ray release

Blu-ray Title # of Disc(s) Year # of Episodes Blu-ray release
Region A Region B Region C
Mrs Brown's Boys - Series One 2 2011 6 — 3 October 2011[22] —

References

  1. ^ a b "Mrs Brown's Boys tops Christmas viewership". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  2. ^ Jaine Sykes. "Comedy Blog: Mrs. Brown's Boys returns for a second series!". BBC. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  3. ^ Brown is the new back as Mrs Brown's Boys is set to return - The Daily Record
  4. ^ "Mrs Brown's Boys put it up to Tubridy". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  5. ^ Harrison, Bernice (12 February 2011). "It's not that 'Mrs Brown' is too mainstream. It's just not funny". The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Why Irish TV has the cringe factor". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  7. ^ Shah, Kavi. "Mrs Brown's Boys rakes in 2.6million viewers for the BBC", Metro, 22 February 2011.
  8. ^ Lesnik, Tim. "Mrs Brown's Boys to make BBC One return", 22 March 2011.
  9. ^ Scott, Marion. "Brown is the new back as Mrs Brown's Boys is set to return", Daily Record, March 20 2011.
  10. ^ Sykes, Jaine. "Mrs Brown will be back for a second series", BBC Comedy Blog (BBC), 22 March 2011.
  11. ^ Bray, Allison (27 April 2011). "O'Carroll's hit comedy nominated for BAFTA award". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  12. ^ a b "David Jason's 'The Royal Bodyguard' logs 7.1m for BBC One - TV News". Digital Spy. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  13. ^ "'Mrs Brown's Boys' handed third series - TV News". Digital Spy. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  14. ^ "BBC comedy 'Mrs Brown's Boys' grabs 2.6m - TV News". Digital Spy. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  15. ^ "Will Young's 'Bedlam' slumps to 189k - TV News". Digital Spy. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  16. ^ "'Law & Order: UK' locks up 5.5m - TV News". Digital Spy. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  17. ^ "'Waking The Dead' trounces 'Law & Order' - TV News". Digital Spy. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  18. ^ "'Waking The Dead' sneaks past 6m - TV News". Digital Spy. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  19. ^ "Fern Britton gets chatty with almost 1m - TV News". Digital Spy. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  20. ^ Digital spy, scroll to relevant Day.
  21. ^ "Mrs Brown's Boys - Series 1 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. N/A. Retrieved 28 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mrs-Browns-Boys-1-Blu-ray/dp/B005L8ORZA". Amazon.co.uk. N/A. Retrieved 28 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |title= (help)

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