Brendan O'Carroll teases big shock for fans in new Mrs Brown's Boys mini-series
The award-winning mini-series is set to return to our screens on August 1 on BBC One and RTÉ.
Speaking ahead of the new series, Brendan said fans are in for a shock.
He said: 'The mini-series focuses on the continuing life in the Brown family and surrounding households in Finglas.
'Cathy gets involved with a podcast producer, which obviously is commandeered by Agnes, Winnie and Birdy. Granddad decides that he wants to leave the family home for a care home, Agnes of course packs his bags for him.
'Winnie's husband's car, which has been lying up for ten years, is pressed into action by Winnie, leading to a disastrous driving test which ends with a huge shock for the Brown family.
'In Foley's lounge bar, Father Damien stages his annual Finglas talent show, with some hilarious entries. All capped off with a wonderfully hilarious 'trip' as Agnes is confined to a mobile chair.'
The first episode kicks off on August 1 and sees Simon Delaney guest starring.
Mrs Brown becomes a podcast sensation – without even leaving the house. Cathy is horrified to discover her mother accidentally hijacks her new podcast project.
The second episode sees Grandad wanting to leave the house and check himself into a nursing home. Agnes, of course, is having none of it and immediately goes into detective mode to find out what's really going on.
Meanwhile, Foley's Bar prepares for its big annual talent show, and Winnie is determined to take part (whether the bar wants her to or not).
In episode three, Winnie's ready to hit the road – but first, she needs to pass her driving test. Naturally, Agnes and the gang volunteer to help her practise, and chaos soon follows.
With Winnie behind the wheel and Buster instructing, Finglas becomes a danger zone. Guest stars Shobu Kapoor, formerly of Eastenders, and Marek Larwood add to the madness as things spiral out of control in true Brown family fashion.
And in the final episode of the series, Cathy's book group gets an unexpected new member – Agnes. After accidentally picking up one of Cathy's novels, Agnes discovers she has a surprising fondness for steamy fiction. When she gatecrashes the next group meeting to share her 'insights', Cathy is mortified.
Brendan admitted writing the mini-series is much more relaxing compared to the Christmas specials as he welcomes Paddy Houlihan as a writer onto the show.
He said: 'The writing of the mini-series is much more relaxing for myself and Paddy Houlihan, who joins me as a writer. With the Christmas Specials, I have to keep it within the Christmas period (including the Christmas trees which have emerged as their own event), unlike the specials we can focus on anything, within reason.' Agnes gets a mobility scooter and enjoys an erotic novel on Mrs. Brown's Boys (Image: Graeme Hunter / BBC Studios / BOC)
And the Dubliner revealed the inspiration behind some of the storylines – saying most of them are drawn from real-life scenarios.
'The ideas for these episodes are no different from the previous 53 episodes.
'Believe it or not, most of the story lines are based on true events that either happened to my family or have been told to me by people about their families.
'Everybody has a story, and it's quite common for someone in a family to say in the middle of a family disaster, 'This is like an episode of Mrs. Brown's Boys'.'
Speaking about his favourite moment filming the series, he said: 'Oh yeah, having Agnes on that mobility scooter was such fun. She goes nuts, with hilarious consequences.
'Also in the Talent Show episode I love the interaction between Agnes and Granddad. Look, in every episode there is something that stands out for me, I love being Agnes Brown and I love her family, and her neighbours like Winnie and Birdy.'
Brendan said filming in front of a live audience is 'essential to the show'.
'Filming in front of a live audience is essential to the show. So many times, at the end of rehearsals for a particular episode, our Director, Ben Kellett will say 'All this needs now is the audience' and he is so right.
'They follow every move, every line and add so much to our performances. We would be lost without them.'
But he said that he doesn't know what the secret is to the show's success, saying: 'I write and perform what I think is funny and just hope that somebody somewhere watching gets a laugh out of it. That's it, and, although I sometimes try to include a 'family' message along the way, essentially it's just a bunch of actors trying to make you laugh.'
The new four-part series of Mrs. Brown's Boys will air on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from Friday, August 1 at 9.35pm.
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