Hit show: Brendan O'Carroll in a scene from this year's Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special. Photo Alan PeeblesBRENDAN O’Carroll was so desperate to continue his Christmas tradition of watching his Mrs Brown’s Boys TV specials with his family in Dublin that he flew home and went into quarantine.
And he reveals he has had nine Covid tests so far this year.
“We arrived back on Wednesday last week and myself and Jenny (his wife, who plays Kathy in the show) had a Zoom interview with Eamon and Ruth on ITV’s This Morning to talk about the Christmas specials,” Brendan (65) tells SundayWorld.com
“We had to isolate for five days and we had an appointment for another test (my ninth since October) and after we got the all-clear the next day we were able to see the family. Jenny’s mam is recovering from a fall so it was lovely to see her.”
It was also the first time in nearly a year he got to see some of his grandsons – he has six of them.
“I haven’t seen some of them since last Christmas,” he said.
He also got to visit Crumlin Children’s Hospital last Friday, but in a different way.
Mrs Brown’s Boys will bring much-needed cheer to our screens
“They have set it up to be a virtual one and it was great fun,” he beams.
His other plans have also been affected.
“We would usually have a get together bin my house for the 30 or so Ireland based staff, but we have had to cancel this,” he confirms.
“The 24th would usually see me and Joe Duffy wowing them in Anne street, however I’m awaiting the plans for this or whatever will replace it.
“Finally Christmas Day. This is usually a big gathering in our house, but with the restrictions we have to leave it this year
" So Jenny and I will have Eric (his young son) and Evan with us for dinner then that evening we have arranged a Group FaceTime while we all watch the show for the first time.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys is set to top the Christmas TV ratings again this year as the star and creator Brendan admits they had to work hard to stay within tough coronavirus restrictions to make the festive specials.
Millions will tune into BBC and RTÉ to see how Agnes Brown and her Dublin family are celebrating Christmas in the year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There’ll be no hugging, no kissing and lots of social distancing going on in the Finglas household.
“For Christmas Day show it’s a quiet household at the Browns,” Brendan says.
“With Covid restrictions, visitors are few, although nobody can dent Agnes’ usual devotion to the holiday.
“The Christmas tree might be recovering from Covid. How did Winnie cope with lockdown?
“How will Fr Damien get the Christmas message across? What Was Buster up to with the Bard of Avon? “And who is this ‘Dickie’ that is terrorising the Finglas area?
“Also Agnes wins a competition to reply on TV to the Queens Christmas message,” he said.
He reveals what’s the storyline behind the New Year episode. “Winnie is traumatised by a break-in,” he reveals.
“It’s Cathy’s birthday, but she’s not happy about it! Dermot and Buster go hunting ‘Butterflies’. And why won’t Fr Damien accept that he is not in this episode.”
The cast had to rehearse their lines in Zoom meetings before flying to Glasgow in October and quarantining before going into a bubble to film the two shows in the BBC Scotland studio.
Mrs Brown’s Boys will bring much-needed cheer to our screens
“I think people will enjoy them and, hopefully, it will bring some cheer after what’s been a difficult year,” he adds
At this time of year Brendan and his fellow cast members stage a live tour of the hit show and would normally play dates in arenas in Dublin and Belfast.
For the past several years kind-hearted Brendan gives the proceeds of one of his Dublin shows to the Saint Vincent De Paul.
But the dad-of-four reveals he has helped the charity in a different way.
“I am today appealing to everyone to be as kind as their means allow them to,” he reflects.
“Although we had no show, we did the 1,250 family Christmas SVP dinners this year anyway. It’ll come back to us in karma.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys airs tonight, Christmas Eve, on RTE One at 10.15pm and tomorrow, Christmas Day, on BBC1 at 10pm.
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