A cartoon, and another sitcom

The phenomenal success of Mrs Brown's Boys is to be extended with a new animated version – while creator Brendan O'Carroll is working on another BBC sitcom idea.

Production will start on the cartoon series this year, giving O'Carroll the chance to export his characters around the world.

He has been working on the idea for four years, and the team of animators he put together in Arizona already made the title sequence for the BBC One show.

'I always knew that if I could get Mrs Brown on to BBC TV, it would explode,' he told the Irish Independent. 'The wonderful thing about doing a cartoon is that they translate it into any language.'

Versions for export to countries including Brazil and Japan are being planned under the co-production deal between Universal Studios and O'Carroll's own production company, Bocpix. It could replicate the success of the 52 Mr Bean animations, which have been screened around the world.

And while shooting on a third series of Mrs Brown's Boys begins in October, the BBC has also commissioned another pilot from O'Carroll.

The new show will be based on his first play, The Course, and star the Dublin comedian as a lecturer trying to inspire a group of no-hopers.

Mrs Brown's Boys regularly attracts audiences of more than six million viewers, and sold a million DVDs last Christmas.

Published: 6 Mar 2012