Brendan O'Carroll to make Xmas specials until 2020

Brendan O'Carroll has revealed he's signed up to make Christmas specials of Mrs Brown's Boys until 2020.

Mrs Brown's Boys dethrones Queen in Xmas Day ratings

The Queen has been toppled from the number one spot of the Christmas Day ratings by BBC One sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys in the consolidated viewing figures published on Friday.

Radio Times review

Mammy is on edge after a spate of burglaries, and with good reason when her telly and precious armchair go missing. Buster offers to install an alarm system and series of grilles - and much hilarity ensues.

In other news, Cathy is feeling broody and plans a visit to a London fertility clinic, leading to some classic malapropisms from Mammy. When Dermot is refused a bank loan, Mammy takes on her hoity in-law Hilliary (Susie Blake) to win 10,000 euros in a pub poker tournament. And look out for an inspired new use for an iPad.

Mrs Brown's Boys review: 'predictable'

Potty-mouthed mirth-fest Mrs Brown's Boys (BBC One) is much-maligned by critics but adored by audiences. So in the interests of sort-of-scientific testing, I watched the New Year's Day special while keeping a tally of how many times I laughed.

I can tell you're on the edge of your seats, so I'll cut straight to my findings: three snorts of the "that's vaguely amusing, I suppose" variety; two grunts that didn't turn into chuckles; and two smirks. Not a great return on my 35 minutes but not as bad as feared. I didn't count the tuts, sighs and eye-rolls because it didn't seem in the spirit of the season.

Brendan O'Carroll reveals on-stage pain

The 59-year-old comedian suffered with crippling pain due to his dental implants but he says it hasn't put him off the procedure.

Mrs Brown tops Xmas Day ratings for 2nd year in a row

Mrs Brown's Boys was the most watched programme on Christmas Day as 7.6 million viewers tuned in to see Brendan O'Carroll's festive special.

Radio Times review

Agnes Brown cleaned up last year - not her potty mouth, of course, but in the Christmas Day ratings battle, confounding her detractors and reeling in 9.2 million viewers as the night's most watched show.

In the first of two jaunty festive editions, Mammy is singed by her Christmas tree, believes Rory is having a sex change, and gets a huge laugh from her misuse - in front of two priests - of what is best described on this page as a marital aid. As ever the most satisfying moments come when the cast break the "fourth wall", leaving in a fluffed line from Eilish O'Carroll (Winnie) and teasing Jennifer Gibney (Cathy) about her early exit from Strictly.

Mrs. Brown's Boys Christmas special preview

The Christmas special is some mildly amusing if unsatisfying comedy that's an easy watch if you want to put something on the TV, but this is a present that's best put back under the tree.

Last year it was potty-mouth Agnes Brown and her funny family who won the festive ratings war, so she has a lot to live up to this time round in what could be one of the last of the disfunctional Dubliner's TV appearances.

After all, she and her alter-ego Brendan O'Carroll are movie stars now.

Again the Christmas tree almost deserves an acting credit as chaos reigns in the front room. The arrival of a large box for Cathy has Agnes intrigued, and Rory announces that husband Dino is buying him plastic surgery for Christmas.

Things go from bad to worse when Agnes gets the wrong end of the stick about exactly what sort of nips and tucks we're talking about.

And Buster Brady delivers Agnes that magical new Christmas tree which is sure to restore her festive spirit. If only it would co-operate...

Whatever you may think of this vulgar panto-style Irish sitcom, it was d'most watched programme of last Christmas. Duly, the BBC has re-invested in two more specials packed with double entendres, ad libs, and actors corpsing. Tonight, following a spate of burglaries, Mammy invests in a "state of the art" alarm system from Buster Brady. True, this is a very uncool show, but it is end-of-the-pier stuff done as well as you're likely to see without an actual pier. It also contains a good joke about the merits of newspapers versus iPads.