Brendan O’Carroll reveals the future of Mrs Brown’s Boys amid plummeting ratings and calls for it to be axed

Brendan O’Carroll has revealed the future of Mrs Brown’s Boys amid falling ratings and calls for the BBC show to be axed.

The 2024 festive special’s viewing figures fell to their lowest ever, with viewers claiming it ‘ruined’ their Christmas.

And Brendan, 69, who stars as Agnes Brown in the BBC sitcom, has confirmed the show will return despite negative feedback.

Brendan told me Daily star: ‘We will be filming another series in April and May [2025]. It’s nice to be asked to do another one.’

The series, first broadcast in 2011, attracted a paltry 2.2 million viewers on Christmas Day, which was a huge drop from the 11.5 million seen in the 2013 December 25 special.

While the sitcom struggled in the ratings, elsewhere on BBC1 Gavin and Stacey: The Finale was the most watched show of the festive season with 12.5 million, while Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl attracted 9.5 million.

Previously described as ‘marmite television’, the latest episode of Mrs Brown’s Boys saw the Irish matriarch try to convince her family she wasn’t as grumpy as Scrooge, but those at home described it as ‘spectacularly unfunny’.

They raced to

“How terrible were Mrs. Brown’s boys? My deepest condolences if you had to experience this’,

“Christmas was going well until Mrs. Brown’s Boys,” “Just reminded that Mrs. Brown’s Boys is happening tonight. Christmas ruined’.

‘But Mrs Brown’s Boys is spectacularly unfunny’, ‘Being home for Christmas is great until Mrs Brown’s Boys is on TV’,

‘Mrs Brown’s Boys was made in such a way that I hate the people who were part of it’, ‘Why is Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special still running in 2013’.

During rehearsals for the special, the show became embroiled in a racial row after actor and writer Brendan alluded to the N-Word in front of shocked co-stars and production staff.

While reading from the script while playing the role of Agnes Brown, he is reported to have said, “I don’t call a spade a spade, I call a spade a…”

Brendan then started saying the N-word before being stopped by a co-star, whose intervention was reportedly given while he was in character as Agnes’ daughter.

The Dublin-born comedian later apologized before claiming his racist joke was ‘a good thing’ for the BBC because it ‘raised awareness of racism’.

Speak with The sun Brendan said: ‘All that incident did is raise a lot of awareness about racism, and a lot of attention on the BBC; they do not tolerate mess.

“The context of it… it was completely taken out of context. But I think it was a good thing in the long run because it got people talking about it.”

When the scandal emerged last month, Brendan’s rep told the Mail: ‘We would also like to clarify that the ‘n’ word was absolutely not spoken, but implied.

“Agnes (Mrs. Brown) started speaking but was stopped by her daughter Cathy from finishing as she knew she would.”

In initial statements about the incident, neither the BBC nor Brendan acknowledged the severity of the offensive slur.

Cast and crew were reportedly fired while the company “tried to get to the bottom” of what happened.

Rehearsals then resumed in Glasgow at the broadcaster’s Pacific Quay studios in Scotland and the shows are going ahead as planned.

The BBC said: ‘While we do not comment on individuals, the BBC stands against all forms of racism and we have robust processes in place should any issues ever arise.’

Brendan later apologized for making a “clumsy attempt at a joke” in the role of Mrs. Brown, where a “racial term was implied.”

His full statement read: “While reading through the Christmas specials of Mrs. Brown’s Boys there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, in the character of Agnes, in which a racial term was implied. It backfired and caused an offense that I deeply regret and for which I have apologized.”

Those who witnessed the comment were reportedly ‘shocked’ by the slur which was ‘subsequently noticed at the BBC’.

Mrs Brown’s Boys has been a regular feature of the BBC’s Christmas programs for more than a decade.

The show has also had several miniseries, including a four-part series last year, its first since 2013.

In the programme, the character of Brendan, affectionately known as ‘mammy’ in the series, is a foul-mouthed Irish mother.

He will also star in new BBC sitcom Shedites and will look at ‘men’s mental health’ and is expected to hit screens by ‘the autumn’.

The new BBC program will star iconic funnyman Tommy Cannon, 86, who previously starred in The Cannon and Ball Show.

The episodes are filmed in Glasgow at the BBC’s Pacific Quay studios.