Brendan O’Carroll loves family just like Mrs Brown!

Brendan O’Carroll appears to be a middle aged, balding man with glasses.

That’s until he pops on a wig, a frumpy frock and apron and is transformed into Mrs Brown, star of the most successful comedy on TV.

Brendan famously employs almost his entire family, both in front of and behind the camera. And right now, the clan are all starring in Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie on the big screen.

Advance bookings have been so massive that a sequel is already being planned. I laugh out loud watching Mrs Brown’s Boys on the TV. It is just so daft, very earthy and downright silly at times.

It doesn’t have the sophistication of my beloved Frasier, but it’s still a real hoot. Brendan is a lovely bloke who loves his family and wants to share his success with them.

He is also a real grafter and has had “overnight success” after working his socks off for decades. Brendan isn’t, however, the first person to dress up as a woman and cast his wife as his daughter.

Some more mature readers might remember Old Mother Riley, a series of movies that did well in the 1940s and starred Arthur Lucan in the title role and his wife Kitty as his daughter.

They had a hugely successful music hall act in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s and, as well as the films, they also had a popular radio show.

Old Mother Riley was an Irish washerwoman and cleaner and the comedy was mostly knockabout slapstick.

The final movie, Old Mother Riley Meets The Vampire, was about as good as it sounds and is only really worth watching to see the original Dracula, Bela Lugosi, as co-star.

I’m sure there’s a drama or documentary to be done on the life and times of Arthur, who has all but been forgotten since his death in 1954.

Mrs Brown is as much a spiky character as Mother Riley, but what makes her more endearing is her overwhelming love for her oddball family.

You know that Mrs Brown would do anything for them and most of the trouble she gets herself into is all to do with protecting or helping them. In real life, Brendan is just as committed to his clan.

They work hard for months on end and then all decant to Florida together to enjoy some rest and relaxation. There have, however, been tough times along the way.

Brendan spoke very movingly this week about his grief for the child he lost 37 years ago. His first son was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus when Brendan was just 21 and the baby only lived for three days.

Brendan thinks about him every day and it’s clear that family is the most important thing in his life even more than the phenomenal success of Mrs Brown’s Boys.

I think it’s really good to see someone so committed to the people he loves, and instead of surrounding himself with yes men, Brendan knows family members will be brutally honest if they think a joke isn’t working or a scene isn’t funny.

He’s a very clever and canny man and I wish him, and his family, a very long and successful career making us laugh ourselves silly.