Mrs Brown's Boys star sorry for 'clumsy' racial joke

Brendan O'Carroll, the Irish prima of BBC One sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys, has apologised for making a "clumsy" gag wherever a "racial word was implied" during rehearsals for the series' upcoming Christmas special.

The BBC temporarily suspended accumulation and launched an probe with the shows present going up arsenic planned.

O'Carroll, who is besides the show's creator, said helium had made a "clumsy effort astatine a joke" during a read-through of the scripts, wherever helium was successful quality arsenic Agnes Brown.

"It backfired and caused offence which I profoundly regret and for which I person apologised," he told The Mirror newspaper.

Those contiguous were said to person been "left shocked by the slur", The Mirror said, adding they "flagged it with the BBC afterwards". The corp said it "acted immediately".

The episodes, filmed successful the BBC's Pacific Quay studios successful Glasgow, marked the archetypal mini-series tally since 2013.

The BBC said: "Whilst we don't remark connected individuals, the BBC is against each forms of racism, and we person robust processes successful spot should issues ever arise."

The programme, archetypal shown connected BBC One successful 2011, has had 4 bid and has agelong been a fixture connected the BBC's Christmas TV schedules.

It won a National TV Award past month for champion comedy.

The slapstick amusement stars O'Carroll arsenic a foul-mouthed Irish matriarch, who is "mammy" to her surrounding household and friends, who stitchery for laughter and tears successful her room and surviving room.

It has a pantomime theatricality to it, featuring shots of the assemblage and including moments erstwhile the actors corpse - a word utilized to picture breaking quality and laughing - and ad-lib connected stage.

Last month, astatine the National TV Awards, O'Carroll told The Sun: "It’s hard to judge this Christmas Day occurrence volition beryllium our 50th episode."

He added: "I deliberation we’re going to beryllium doing different mini bid for April, but whenever the BBC broadcast them."

Speaking astir the award, helium told the paper it was "tremendous, to get this grant is our sixth".

"It’s voted for by the assemblage and viewers. This is the icing connected the barroom it’s amazing," helium added.

Although it is not needfully a cosmopolitan deed with TV critics, the amusement has proved to beryllium an enduring occurrence with its fans.

Dick Fiddy, archive TV programmer astatine the BFI, told the BBC successful 2020 helium thought it "thrived successful the gulf betwixt critics and audiences... due to the fact that there's a definite conception of the assemblage that feels disenfranchised by modern comedy; an assemblage that enjoyed the broad, treble entendre drama of On The Buses and Are You Being Served?"

O'Carroll has said the occurrence of the amusement has been, astatine slightest successful part, down to an audience" that has felt "left behind", arsenic TV drama has evolved and changed.