Mrs. Brown's Boys is a British-Irish television sitcom created by and starring Brendan O'Carroll and produced in the United Kingdom by BBC and BBC Studios in partnership with BOC-PIX and Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
The series stars O'Carroll as Agnes Brown, with several close friends and family members making up the rest of the cast. The show adopts an informal production style often breaking the fourth wall, where production mistakes and tomfoolery, mostly instigated by O'Carroll, are edited into each episode. Despite being lambasted by critics and unfavourable comparisons to Father Ted, the show became a ratings success in both Ireland, where it is set, and the United Kingdom, where it is recorded. It also received high ratings in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The show has won numerous industry awards.
Mrs. Brown's Boys was developed from O'Carroll's works going back to the early 1990s. The character, Agnes Browne, first appeared in stage plays, radio plays, books, and straight-to-DVD films. For the sitcom, the spelling of Agnes' surname was shortened from Browne to Brown. A stage show has continued to run, and during February and March 2014 it toured Australia. A feature film, Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie, was released on 27 June 2014. In late 2023, the show returned for a fourth series.
Background
The original radio play version of Mrs. Browne's Boys (the 'e' in Browne was later dropped) appeared first on Irish radio station RTÉ 2fm in 1992, then in a series of books written by Brendan O'Carroll from the mid-1990s onwards. The books, entitled The Mammy, The Chisellers, The Granny, and The Young Wan, were first published in Ireland, before being made available in the United Kingdom. In 1999, The Mammy was adapted into a film titled Agnes Browne with Anjelica Huston playing the title character. Following the film's success, O'Carroll wrote a series of stories adapted from the books, in which he played Mrs. Browne (now spelled 'Brown') and cast the rest of the family – including many of his own relatives as characters.
A series of seven film-like adaptations was made and went straight to DVD release, originally officially just for Ireland, and since re-released via Universal Pictures, as "Mrs Brown(e)'s Boys – The Original Series". In turn, while these 7 straight-to-video features were released over the next few years, they would then also become adapted into the 7 stage plays later performed in rotation on the various tours, originally just in Ireland.
During this time, O'Carroll took the show on the road, appearing in a series of Mrs. Brown plays in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Outside of Ireland, the stage show got its big break at Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, where manager Iain Gordon liked O'Carroll's idea and decided to put it on, but the show didn't sell and O'Carroll suggested a 2-for-1 ticket deal, after which the show became a hit. For the next seven years, two different Mrs Brown's Boys shows were on for up to three weeks at a time. The Pavilion became known as "The Home of Mrs Brown".
There were also occasional DVD releases of the live theatre audience theatrical versions of the seven plays adapted from the original "The Original Series" features. These tour versions of the features are the video series referred to as the "Live Tour/Show", not to be confused with the live BBC/RTE TV broadcast episodes.
Production
In early 2009, O'Carroll was approached by BBC Scotland producer Stephen McCrum to create a television series based on the stage show. O'Carroll recruited an expanded cast mainly from family members and wrote a pilot, but production was held back a year due to the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand incident. The unbroadcast pilot was created in November 2009, and within three weeks of the pilot being submitted to the BBC, they commissioned a full series. Subsequently, RTÉ came on board to help produce the series in partnership with the BBC. The first series aired on RTÉ One from 1 January to 5 February 2011. In the United Kingdom, the BBC transmitted the first episode on 21 February 2011.
Following the success of the first series, RTÉ and the BBC commissioned a second, which began with a Christmas special broadcast on 25 December 2011 on RTÉ One, and the next day on BBC One. The latter was the most watched television programme in Ireland over the Christmas season. The second series began on New Year's Eve 2011 in Ireland, and two days later in the United Kingdom.