Brendan O'Carroll said 37,000 fans applied to be in the audience for the live Mrs Brown's Boys on BBC1, but there were only 400 spaces
Mrs Brown’s Boys creator Brendan O’Carroll has said nearly 40,000 fans applied for the 400 tickets available to see the live episode.
In a one-off special, Mrs Brown’s Boys will be broadcast live on BBC One for the first time ever on Saturday.
Brendan, who is also the show’s star, said: “We’ve got 400 seats and there were 37,000 applications for tickets.”
Speaking on Friday during an interview with ITV’s This Morning, he added: “We’re very lucky – it’s great fun for us to do.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys Live: Mammy Sutra is part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season celebrating the programming genre. Irishman Brendan plays Agnes Brown, a Dublin matriarch who cannot resist interfering in the lives of her family and friends.
Asked to account for the show’s popularity, Brendan said: “Everybody knows an Agnes or somebody like Agnes. It’s either an aunt or a granny or a mother and everybody knows one.”
The 60-year-old said: “There’s that angst that we all have when you hear that she’s coming to the wedding. You go, ‘Oh my God – she’ll be fine at the start, but as soon as there’s one or two drinks she’ll be up on the table dancing and waving her knickers in the air!’”
Brendan said his character resonated with audiences because of her genuine love for her children.
“There’s a warmth about Agnes. There’s something about her, she actually adores her children and I think that’s her redeeming factor. Whatever else she does, at the end of the day, she actually adores her children.”
In the live episode, Agnes discovers son Mark Brown (Pat ‘Pepsi’ Shields) and his wife Betty (Amanda Woods) are experiencing problems in the bedroom. She takes it upon herself to fix the situation.
The show is renowned for its profanity, but Mrs Brown’s Boys Live: Mammy Sutra will be broadcast without a delay so any swear words will slip through the net.
Originally a radio show in 1992, Mrs Brown’s Boys made its TV debut in 2011. Mrs Brown’s Boys has become one of the biggest comedy shows on television. Ratings have climbed as high as 12 million viewers.
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, the big-screen adaptation, was a huge hit in 2014.
