Says its creator Brendan O'Carroll

It’s not usually hailed as being a trailblazer for progressive thinking – but Mrs Brown’s Boys has been a pioneer in political correctness, its creator Brendan O’Carroll says.

The comedian, who also plays the show’s matriarch Agnes Brown, says that the character of Rory, a gay hairdresser, was pioneering when he as first introduced.

He told The Sun: ‘At the time I wrote the character of Agnes’s gay son, it was a radio series, and it was illegal in Ireland to be gay. So I actually wanted to buck the system.

‘And I don’t know where and how you use the pronouns "them" and "they" - but Agnes Brown is gender fluid after all.’

Rory Cowan, who played the role of Rory quit the hugely successful franchise in 2017, after 26 years, saying: ‘I really got very, very bored with it.’

O’Carroll  added that despite his claims to be woke, ‘I almost want to get cancelled because with all these other things going, I feel a bit left out.

‘But if the BBC write their policy on what goes on TV based on what’s said on social media, then the BBC have lost a sense of their own being. It’s the audience that makes the call - and the best device for cancelling something is the remote control.’

Mrs Brown’s Boys marks its tenth year on TV with a live Halloween special on BBC One at 9.30pm tonight.

Published: 29 Oct 2021