Irish celebrities were out in force last night as they headed to the Savoy cinema, Dublin for the premiere of the long awaited Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie.
The stars in attendance were singer Brian Kennedy, TV star Katherine Lynch, soccer legends Shay Given and Ronnie Whelan boxers Bernard Dunne and Olympic gold medal winner Katie Taylor as well as motorcycle racer Shayne Byrne.
Mrs Brown’s Boys has been a runaway success on the small screen, particularly in the UK where the series gained a new lease of life.
The show creator Brendon O’Carroll paid tribute to Father Ted, saying the classic comedy helped Irish humour become more accessible in Britain.
He said: ““Father Ted opened up an awful lot of doors for us. Irish comedians are doing really well over in England so I don’t think there’s that translation problem. We never ever thought about Anglicising it in any way, we always played it exactly as it is. I think that is the appeal of it.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys has been an ongoing project since the early 1990s with several books, films and stage shows by creator Brendon O’Carroll. O’Carroll has usually played the part of Mrs Brown himself with his famly and friends playing the other characters.
O’Carroll was close to bringing the show to end before the BBC commissioned a pilot for a TV series in 2009.
Since then the show has become a huge success. Ireland’s RTE co-produced the show with the BBC and it has grown in popularity ever since, winning a BAFTA along the way.
Director Ben Kellett believes O’Carroll has always been confident about the show. Kellet said: “(The first thing he told me was) ‘Okay, we’re going to make three TV series, we’re going to win a Bafta and we are going to make one, two or three movies’. That was five years ago and it’s coming true. He is just one of those people.”
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is out in cinemas tomorrow.
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