Ghouling live

Brendan O’Carroll on the bewitching 10th-anniversary special of his hit sitcom

- ELAINE REILLY

Brendan O’Carroll is in high spirits when he calls TV Times to chat about a hair-raising live Halloween special of his BBC1 comedy phenomenon Mrs Brown’s Boys.

In his native Ireland, Samhain – meaning ‘summer’s end’ – is one of the biggest festivals of the year, celebrated with trick-or-treating, fireworks and dressing up.

So it’s no surprise that Brendan’s matriarch and her coven are planning a fangtastic live outing this Friday. Here, in an exclusive interview, the wickedly funny Brendan, 66, tells us why it will be frighteningly fabulous...

What makes Halloween a special time for you?

It’s a big-time for us. A lot of people don’t know that we, the Irish, started it.

I love when the winter nights come in and it starts to get dark early. For me, this time of year was always a rush to the holidays. You’d go back to school in September and the first celebration would be Halloween. You’d only have your mask off and Santa would be on your back straight away!

Did you have a tough job selling a live broadcast to the BBC?