Step into Christmas with Mrs Brown and her boisterous clan when the popular comedy returns with its traditional seasonal episodes on Christmas Day and New Years Day.
There are familiar faces, guest stars, a new Christmas tree and a rather crowded house to look forward to as Brendan O’Carroll’s comedy series filmed in front of a live studio audience returns.
Here’s everything you need to know about the double-helping of festive cheer from Finglas…
Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials 2024 release date
Mrs Brown’s Boy’s Christmas special debuts on BBC One on Christmas Day at 11.05 pm. The New Year episode airs on New Year’s Day on BBC One at the slightly earlier time of 10.30 pm.
Both episodes will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Mrs Brown’s Boys season specials 2024 episode guide
Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special - 25 December 2024, BBC1, 11.05pm
Ding Dong Mammy
Mrs Brown has a Christmas miracle to perform in the first of two festive visits to Finglas. Can Agnes convince her nearest and dearest that she’s not grumpy?! Elsewhere, the Dublin matriarch’s daughter Cathy pulls the community together for a good cause, and expects the unexpected from Buster, as he sources a sustainable tree.
Speaking about the episode star and creator Brendan O’Carroll says: "First of all, we have a stunning Christmas tree that can be recycled. Then we've Cathy trying to solve the homeless problem in Finglas and the surrounding area!”
Mrs Brown’s Boys New Year’s Special - 1 January 2025, BBC1, 10.30pm
B&B Mammy
After her Christmas Day shenanigans, Mrs Brown is ready to kickstart a new enterprise tonight when she turns her spare room into a B&B. If you’re wondering who would willingly stay at the madcap matriarch’s home, the answer’s soon revealed…
A dangerous, escaped criminal turns up and takes over the gaff!
“Mrs Brown as a landlady doesn’t work out,” teases Brendan. “Agnes is held hostage, and so is everyone who calls at the house - including her family, the neighbours and a brass band!”
Now, there’s a scenario you won’t see on Four in a Bed. Steve Speirs (The Tuckers) guest stars.
“The New Year's Eve storyline is probably the funniest I’ve written in a long, long time,” says Brendan.
Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas and New Year specials 2024 - cast and guest stars
Regular and returning cast
Agnes - Brendan O'Carroll
Hillary - Susie Blake
Trevor - Martin Delany
Sharon - Fiona Gibney
Cathy - Jennifer Gibney
Dermot - Paddy Houlihan
Father Damien - Conor Moloney
Buster - Danny O'Carroll
Winnie - Eilish O'Carroll
Maria - Fiona O'Carroll
Bono - Jamie O'Carroll
Grandad - Dermot O'Neill
Dr Flynn - Derek Reddin
Birdie - June Rodgers
Mark - Pat Shields
Betty - Amanda Woods
Blister - Blake O'Carroll
Guest stars in B&B Mammy
Garda Fergusson - Stephen McConnell
Mr Yoshimoto - Eiji Mihara
Garda - Mark Sheridan
Slasher Sam - Steve Speirs
Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials 2024 - Q&A with Brendan O’Carroll
Brendan, how do you feel about Mrs Brown’s Boys being a staple in the Christmas viewing schedules?
“Very, very privileged. For me, Christmas Day didn't finish until Morecambe and Wise was finished, everybody in the family gathered round to watch that. To have that now as my slot, particularly on the BBC, I'm very proud to be part of the BBC family. It is a privilege and to have had it for 11, 12 years now, I only signed up for 18 episodes and this will be 51!”
What do you think it is about the show that brings people together every year?
“I think that the fact that it is a family, about a family and that many of the cast are family, there's a chemistry there already. For example, when Cathy is saying to Mrs. Brown, ‘Oh, Mammy, shut up!’ it's taken exactly the way it would be taken if it was a member of our own family. The one thing about Agnes I think is adorable is that the most important thing in her life is her kids, more so than even her own life. I think maybe she's the mammy that everybody wants to have, that kind of mammy that would just adore you.”
Following on from that thought, she’s very much an Irish Mammy - but does she translate?
“Yes, I think everybody knows her. I get letters from Italy, I get letters from Romania, from people who say to me, ‘Oh, Agnes Brown just lives down the road, we know her!’ She's like that aunt that you have to invite to the wedding, you don't want to, but you have to and you know that after three vodkas she's going to be standing up on the table, her knickers in the air and dancing on the table. That's Agnes!”
What was Christmas like when your kids were growing up?
“For many years when the kids were younger, we had a traditional Christmas. We all went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, we came back and had supper together and then the younger kids went to bed because Santa was coming. Then we would wake up on Christmas morning after Santa Claus had arrived!"
Have things changed now you’re a grandfather?
“As they got older and they married, we have eight grandchildren, and they have their own Christmas day but the exception is that on Christmas morning everybody arrives here for breakfast - they don't all stay for dinner because sometimes they're with in laws or they do it at home themselves - we have sausage sandwiches, pudding sandwiches, and a good laugh. We then give the grandkids their presents from Granny and Grandad and everybody goes their own way. I don't know if it's like that in the UK but Christmas is a big visiting day, Christmas morning especially.”
That sounds lovely. What else are you looking forward to this Christmas?
“Well, we're working right up to the end of December at the moment - we're doing an Irish tour and it finishes in Dublin on December 22, which leaves us the day before Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to celebrate. The great thing about it is because we're on the road, the family are on the road with us, so we're having the best December ever because we're all going to be together every day, which is wonderful. But I think by the time we get to Christmas Eve, we'll be sick of them!”
Is there a trailer for Mrs Brown's Christmas 2024 specials?
Not this year, unfortunately. But here are some nice images from this year's shows...
