An RTE spokesman confirmed to The Irish Sun that Shedites will not be airing on RTE over the Christmas season
FORMER Mrs Brown’s Boys star Rory Cowan has blasted RTE over their “bizarre” decision not to air a new telly sitcom set in Ireland starring his pal Brendan O’Carroll.
BBC viewers will sit down to watch Shedites, a comedy-drama set around a men’s shed in a fictional satellite town outside Dublin.
The show features a galaxy of Irish stars including Brendan, Simon Delaney, Deirdre O’Kane and Shane Casey, aka crazy Billy Murphy from The Young Offenders.
Also involved are Danny O’Carroll, who performed on Dancing With The Stars, and Mrs Brown’s Boys star Paddy Houlihan, as ‘Paddy The Liar, who penned the new show.
It will air on BBC on New Year’s Day at 10:35pm. RTE revealed this week that Mrs Brown’s Boys would once again be at the centre of the station’s Christmas Day viewing.
However, the station told us that fans hoping to see the new show featuring Brendan and some of the best known faces from Mrs Brown are to be disappointed.
An RTE spokesman said: “Shedites will not be airing on RTE”.
Quizzed as to why they had decided to snub the new Irish comedy, the station told us: “RTE does not comment on editorial decisions.”
Former Mrs Brown star Rory admitted he was stunned at the RTE snub.
Rory told us: “I’m really shocked given the ratings Mrs Brown has brought RTE, they’re not showing this. Most of the cast are Irish, it’s set in Ireland. This decision is bizarre.
“And if RTE decide they want to show Shedities in the future, the BBC should charge them double, because they’re not picking the show up now.”
Ashbourne man and Mrs Brown star Paddy got the idea to make the comedy-drama during lockdown, and researched it by visiting a men’s shed in Ratoath, Co Meath.
Paddy told us: “As a men’s shed it was everything I hoped it would be. I wanted to capture the camaraderie of a men’s shed where men could get together and talk without egos and build a comedy around that.”
BBC bosses were so impressed with Paddy’s scripts, they immediately commissioned a pilot with a stellar Irish cast including O’Kane as local councillor Orla Naughton and Delaney as Gavin, chairman of the men’s shed.
He is constantly clashing with Brendans character, Jimmy O’Brien, a divorced dad of one, who has a beard and a flat cap and is a million miles from his portrayal of Agnes Brown.
SITCOM INSIGHT
Paddy told us: “It’s very different Brendan who is not wearing a dress. I based it on the Brendan I know off camera. He’s definitely a little moodier than audiences will have seen before.
“But the thing about Brendan is he has a very quick wit and can be very funny. At the same time, he has a stare that’s funnier than words.”
BBC bosses decided to film the new comedy in a town outside Glasgow, changing all the road signs into Irish and painting the post boxes green.
Paddy told us: “BBC have the facilities here. It’s the same reason we made Mrs Brown’s Boys here. I never doubted the whole time I was in Ireland — every car reg was Irish and they even had a statue of the Virgin Mary on the corner.”
