BBC suspended work on Mrs Brown’s Boys after its star Brendan O’Carroll made a racist joke on set.
Work on the sitcom’s Christmas special was paused following complaints by cast and crew members after the Irish comedian is understood to have used an offensive term during a read-through last Wednesday.
O’Carroll, 63, subsequently apologised for causing offence. He told the Mirror: “At a read-through of the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas specials, there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, where a racial term was implied.
“It backfired and caused offence, which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.”
The start of rehearsals yesterday at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow was delayed while the BBC investigated. However, rehearsals resumed after the apology.
O’Carroll created the sitcom which first aired in 2011 and plays the title character Agnes Brown, the matriarch of a large Irish family. The show has won Best Comedy at the National Television Awards six times.
The BBC recently commissioned a fifth series, with production set to get underway in spring.
A source told the Mirror: “The whole production of the Christmas special was paused while the investigation was carried out. The entire cast and crew stood down in the wake of the comment, as the BBC tried to get to the bottom of it.”
Last month, O’Carroll said: “We are going to film another series in April and May. It’s lovely to be asked to do another one.”
The BBC’s swift action surrounding the incident came in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal.
Edwards, 63, the former TV anchor was found guilty last month of paying sex offender Alex Williams up to £1,500 after receiving images of child abuse. Edwards was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
On Monday, Mr Davie told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that no one at the corporation is “indispensable” as he said the broadcaster would no longer refer to prominent presenters as “talent”.
Last month, O’Carroll teased the release of the Christmas special and said: “I can foresee Mrs Brown’s Christmas will be just as chaotic as ever. Except this year, I think she’s going to be happy with her Christmas tree.”
Despite the show’s success ratings, it has always proved divisive.
O’Carroll, from Dublin, said: “I’m the same with music and with comedy, it’s subjective, you know? It really is. It’s what you call Marmite – people either love it or they hate it.”
As well as Mrs Brown’s Boys, O’Carroll has announced that he would be writing a new show for the BBC called Shedites, which is set to feature comedian Tommy Cannon.
O’Carroll was previously criticised for making a joke about actor Tyler Perry’s skin colour on The One Show.
In 2022, they were discussing their forthcoming Netflix movie, A Madea Homecoming when O’Carroll was asked if he would ever invite Perry to appear on Mrs Brown’s Boys. He replied: “I don’t know if we can afford him. He’s very expensive and, so far, we haven’t had anyone of his colour in there.”
