Mrs. Brown's Boys (series)

Mrs. Brown's Boys is an Irish television sitcom produced by BBC Scotland and, and aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One.

Created and written by Irish actor and comedian, Brendan O'Carroll, the series focuses on the titular Agnes Brown (played by O'Carroll, dressed as a woman), the elderly patriarch of the Brown family, including her five children (the "boys" of the title, in spite of the fact that one of them is a woman), their respective spouses, and other extended family.

The show is known for its informal production style, often breaking the fourth wall, and outtakes and tomfoolery, usually instigated by O'Carroll, being edited into the episodes.

The show's characters originated from stage and radio plays, books, and straight-to-DVD films, with the main show's success going on to spawn a touring stage show, a talkshow, and a theatrical feature film.

The show is a popular mainstay on the BBC: initially consisting of full, multi-episode seasons, their output has consisted, in more recent years, of their annual Christmas and New Year's specials, a staple of BBC One's late evening schedule for the two holidays. It's prominence on these days has led to two minor crossovers with the Doctor Who universe via invalid promotional material.

Crossovers
As a tie-in to the show's annual festive specials, Agnes Brown has appeared in two of BBC One's annual Christmas idents with DWU elements, with Brendan O'Carroll reprising the role in both instances.

In 2011's Consider Yourself One Of Us, Agnes appears among the host of BBC stars at a Christmas party, at which the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and a Cyberman are also in attendance. In 2012, one of the skits among the ident, It's Showtime, was one in which Agnes accidentally "steals" the Doctor's TARDIS: she is seen entering the box before it dematerialises. It immediately returns, and Agnes exits.

References in the DWU
Only one reference to the series has been documented in DWU media thus far.

In SOS, the first episode of the audio series, Doctor Who: Redacted, when Cleo Proctor learned from her brother, Jordan, that his work colleague, Tony, had vanished, Cleo admitted that "[she] thought Tony was the boring one who liked cryptocurrencies and Mrs. Brown's Boys".

The somewhat disparaging nature of the remark may be a nod to the show's notoriously polarising reception from critics and viewers in spite of its success.

Cast and guests
Sorcha Cusack, who played Mary Carter in the audio stories, Master of the Daleks, and Eye of Darkness, was the original actress to play Hillary Nicholson, the snobbish mother of Agnes' daughter-in-law, Maria, in the show's first series ( played her in subsequent appearances).

Conor Moloney, who voiced both Dawson and Greaves in the webcast story, Scream of the Shalka, plays the local priest, Father Damian.

Celebrity guests to appear on the spinoff talkshow,, include Adam Woodyatt, Ross Kemp, Sue Perkins, Emilia Fox, Sunetra Sarker, Jonnie Peacock, Peter Jones, Nigel Havers, Emily Atack, Noel Edmonds, John Barrowman, Lee Mack, Joanna David, Matt Lucas, Joel Dommett, and Jonathan Ross.

Festive specials
Mrs. Brown's Boys' festive specials have consistently been a staple of BBC One's Christmas and New Year schedules since the show's first broadcast year of 2011. After an earlier initially being shown on either Christmas Eve or Boxing Day (or both), the show's Christmas specials have consistently been broadcast on Christmas Day beginning from 2013, as a result, being pitted against Doctor Who's own Christmas specials in the ratings for the day. For every one of those years, the Mrs. Brown special would rank higher than Doctor Who's in the ratings for the week.

Beginning from 2015, Mrs. Brown has also regularly broadcast an additional special on New Year's Day, with Doctor Who once again having to compete against it, following its annual festive special's move from Christmas Day in 2019. In contrast to the Christmas specials, Doctor Who managed to receive higher ratings for the week.