The BBC has stated that the crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak will not cause a reduction in Mrs Brown’s Boys repeats currently scheduled for the rest of the summer.
Programming will feature either repeats of the unfunny sitcom, or new material in which Brendan O’Caroll’s matriarch recites the shows catchphrases to an audience of empty chairs. This follows a long list of shows announcing changes to their format because of the virus, including Eastenders, in which characters will now brawl entirely via Skype, and Still Open All Hours, which will have a complete name change, while The Mash Report, set to return in a non-studio format, has been told to keep its punchlines even further apart.
The Irish actor was recently categorised as a ‘key worker’, alongside Philip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Miranda Hart and the cast of The Goes Wrong Show for ensuring viewers are either entertained throughout the lockdown period, or desperately searching for one of the news channels for the latest coronavirus update.
The broadcaster also revealed that in the event of any future national disasters, emergency broadcasts will consist primarily of the inexplicably popular show after it was decided that the Protect and Survive public information films, once set to be broadcast in the event of a nuclear attack, were ‘a bit of a downer’, and that the general public would prefer more slapstick-based programming while they await the unavoidable apocalypse.
A specially commissioned episode has already been filmed for such an eventuality in which Mrs Brown is seen comically swearing and getting into misunderstandings about knickers, while instructing viewers how to wrap their relatives in black bin bags and leave them outside their home for collection.
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