ALL ROUND TO MRS BROWN’S, BBC1, 9.15pm
FOR some reason, they’ve given Mrs Brown her own chat show. The thing takes place in her living room and kitchen, the usual set for the abysmal sitcom, then moves to the local pub, and includes celebrity guests, some silly games with the audience, and various daft skits.
The show kicks off with Mrs Brown welcoming us into her home and then spraying her husband’s crotch with air freshener because he hasn’t had a bath in two weeks. Naturally, this has the audience howling.
Her first guest is “Chef Ali”, whom she describes as “Delia Smith but with a penis,” then we barrel through to the living room for a chat on the sofa with Judy Murray and Pamela Anderson.
Oh, the craic is mighty, with red-hot exchanges such as the following where they ask Murray how she celebrated her sons’ successes: “Did ye crack open a bottle of bubbly?”
“Obviously.”
It’s crude, clunky and embarrassing so it’ll probably be a tremendous hit. Louis Walsh and James Blunt also show up.
PAULA REGO: SECRETS AND STORIES, BBC2, 9pm
I’D never heard of the artist Paula Rego before now, so watching this documentary about her life and work means the BBC is fulfilling part of its original intention to “inform, educate and entertain” – though it’s a mad guess which of those noble criteria applies to Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Rego is a Portuguese artist whose works often have feminist messages depicted with the help of the colourful folk tales and art of her homeland.
Rego moved to London in the 1950s but, as is so often the case,was largely unrecognised despite her talent.
Her relative anonymity went unchallenged as she is a very private person, so this film manages to bring her into the light by having her speak to her son rather than an interviewer.
Her art tackles depression, sexism and fascist repression, and we finally get some insight into the brave and vivid mind which created these strong paintings.
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