NOT EVEN AN appearance by David Beckham could make The Jonathan Ross Show more attractive to viewers than Brendan O’Carroll dressed up as an Irish mammy.
On Saturday night, about 3.92 million people tuned into the ITV1 talk show in the UK but a staggering 6.32 million switched BBC1 on for Irish comedy sketch show Mrs. Brown’s Boys, according to BARB statistics.
O’Carroll’s show, in which he plays an Irish matriarch, has had a string of successes in the past year. Not only did the BBC sign it for a third series (without even airing the second yet), it was the most watched programme in Ireland over the Christmas period.
Saturday’s show was the last in the second series which began with a Christmas special in December. A real family affair, the cast of Mrs. Brown’s Boys includes much of the real-life O’Carroll-clan as the comedian’s wife Jennifer Gibney plays Cathy, while daughter Fiona stars as Maria, son Danny as Buster and sister Eilish as Winnie McGoogan.
Figures for Ross’s Saturday night broadcast were up by about 1.45 million on the week previous, according to Digital Spy. However it was not enough to beat out O’Carroll’s performance in the rival 9.30pm slot.
Beckham’s appearance came just a week after the launch of his latest H&M underwear ads – which Ross was quick to use as comedy fodder.
YouTube Credit: goodtele1111
O’Carroll also used a celebrity in Saturday’s episode – in the form of her grandson Bono.
YouTube Credit: BBC
Meanwhile, Mrs. Brown is set to travel down under as television stations in Australia and New Zealand have now picked up O’Carroll’s series.
