Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has hit back at trolls who slammed the shows Christmas specials.
The BBC recently revealed its TV and online offerings for the Christmas period and two specials have come under particular scrutiny – both Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Brendan, who created the sitcom, told BBC Radio Sounds: ‘First of all, I’m well aware that comedy is very subjective. What some people like, other people just detest. So I don’t take it too serious.’
The actor revealed that the show remains immensely popular and it has even helped children with autism.
He said: ‘When we started… by about the fourth or fifth episode, we got a couple of letters from people who had autistic children.
Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has hit back at trolls who slammed the shows Christmas specials
‘It started as a couple of letters and it’s now been over 3,000. And they said that their kids watched Mrs Brown and they heard them laugh in context for the very first time.
‘One woman said she was in the kitchen and heard her son laughing for the very first time.
‘So when you get a letter like that I don’t care what the critics say. That’ll do me.’
It comes after the BBC revealed its TV and online offerings for the Christmas period and two specials have come under particular scrutiny – both Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Fans of the festive broadcast calendar have been bemoaning that decision since the announcement saying that ‘we’ve suffered enough’.
The BBC ‘s announcement read: ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys is back with two episodes as Mammy tries to enjoy a nice, peaceful Christmas before the whole gang start the New Year by attempting a tough new health and fitness regime.’
‘Please stop,’ one reaction on X – formerly Twitter – read, ‘we’ve suffered enough.’
Brendan, who created the sitcom, told BBC Radio Sounds: ‘First of all, I’m well aware that comedy is very subjective. What some people like, other people just detest. So I don’t take it too serious.’
Another commented: ‘Why? It’s not funny anymore.’
Others simply exclaimed ‘NO’ or asked ‘WHY?’
Someone else described the decision as ‘absolutely pitiful’.
But one critical X user took had a more positive reflection on the move, saying: ‘Its good how they’ll put stuff on so that people switch off the TV and play board games with their families instead.’
Since it first aired in 2011, the BBC sitcom, created by Brendan O’Carroll, has had a Christmas special every year, often with a second special episode on New Year’s Day.
Mrs Brown’s Boys has only released special episodes since 2013, until the polarising programme aired a fourth season this September .
That brief return to regular television saw the show branded ‘drivel and totally unfunny’.
‘We’ve suffered enough’: The BBC has come under fire for airing another two episodes of Mrs Brown’s Boys over this year’s festive broadcast calendar
Glass half-full: One critical X user took had a more positive reflection on the move, saying: ‘Its good how they’ll put stuff on so that people switch off the TV and play board games with their families instead.’
And 11 months ago, the most recent festive iteration of the comedy caused fans, once again, to vocalise their dissatisfaction.
One posted on what was then Twitter: ‘#Mrsbrownsboys No more please, I used to absolutely love it but it’s lost its way.’
This winter’s episodes have been further teased by the BBC with the synopsis: ‘All Mrs Brown wants is a nice, peaceful Christmas, but the family have other ideas!
‘Cathy’s decided to cook Christmas dinner for the first time ever, a sentimental decoration has gone missing and a surprise dinner guest all have the potential to ruin Agnes’ quiet Christmas.’