Mrs Brown’s Boys is a clear favourite on the BBC as it keeps coming back for more series, but creator Brendan O’Carroll has frustrated bosses on how it takes to write episodes
Brendan O’Carroll has panicked BBC bosses by taking ages to pen scripts for Mrs Brown’s Boys. The show’s creator always finishes them at the last minute – making execs nervy.
He said: “I like to leave it late when it comes to the scripts. But the BBC don’t!
“When I see the execs, they’ll be going, ‘How’s the script coming along?’. I pretend and say, ‘Fantastic, I’ve never worked so hard on a script in my life’.”
This year’s festive specials are due to be filmed in just three weeks and Brendan still hasn’t started writing them. He said: “I have no idea what will happen… I haven’t written the f****g thing yet.
“I have a few ideas… mainly that there will be a Christmas tree. I like to have a Christmas tree.”
Brendan insists his approach isn’t bad for the show. The actor, who plays mammy Agnes, added: “Doing the scripts late doesn’t matter.
“We learn our lines in a week anyway. I wouldn’t say it’s a doddle but what helps is everybody knows their character.
“They don’t have to learn a new character. They just have to learn their lines.”
Brendan’s hilarious comments come after the BBC show was greenlit for another series, causing drones of despair for some viewers. After first hitting screens in 2011, Mrs Brown’s Boys has become a firm favourite for the Beeb, but not everyone is happy.
Each year the show is given the chance to prove with a Christmas special, drawing in millions each year. The show reached its peak in 2013, when the Christmas episode raked in an eye-watering 11.52 million viewers, making it one of the most watched shows of the entire decade.
But after the initial success of the show in the early 2010s, figures have dwindled drastically. Things have gotten so bad for the show that the Christmas special — often a staple in many households on the big day — barely brought in 4 million viewers, just about scraping into the top 10 shows in 2020.
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