Brendan O'Carroll talks ahead of Mrs Brown's Boys show in Birmingham

But Queen Elizabeth II is a fan of the show – if its creator is to be believed. Brendan, who plays Mrs Brown, says the Queen loves the show and once requested a copy of the Christmas special.

"We also do know that they are personal fans. They're mad about the show."

Brendan would like to take the Royal love-in further, though he's not sure whether it would happen. He'd happily ask both Her Majesty and Prince Phillip to appear.

The hilarious Agnes Brown is returning to Birmingham with Mrs Brown's Boys 2017 Arena Tour – Good Mourning Mrs Brown.

In this latest live instalment of the award-winning TV series, Agnes is planning Grandad's funeral. The only problem is, Grandad is not dead. What could possibly go wrong?

O'Carroll has a new BBC Saturday night chat show, All Round to Mrs's Browns, and is inviting celebrity guests and their 'mammies' to his home to take part in games and engage in banter.

"We started shooting in early March. It's a light entertainment show. I wouldn't call it a chat show.

"There will be a few celebrity guests interviewed and sticking around to play some games. It's going to be filmed on the Mrs Brown set and celebrities will be coming to Mrs Brown's house to chill out for a couple of hours.

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"It will probably be Cathy who is interviewing the celebrities but Mrs Brown will be sitting in on them. The celebrities will be taking their mothers with them too. So it's fair game."

The show was tested with a pilot featuring the mother of tennis ace Andy Murray. Judy Murray and her own mother appeared on the show – and had everyone in stitches.

"We did the pilot and it was such fun, it really was. We had Judy Murray and her mother on and Judy was hilarious and then her mother came on and she was twice as hilarious. I'd say it was 40 love to Mrs Brown.

"Mrs Brown interviews the celebrity's mothers in the kitchen. And then we have Chef Ali cooking their favourite meal for them."

O'Carroll has already enjoyed a successful year. He and his wife Jennifer Gibney, who plays daughter Cathy on the hit sitcom, collected a National Television Award at London's O2 – giving him the chance for a family reunion in the capital.

"Dad flew everybody over for the NTAs. The whole family was there. Security from BBC in Glasgow were flown down and dad got them all tickets to come. He's really good. He looks after everybody.

"I hadn't seen dad in three and a half months as he's living in Florida, so it was like a family get-together over in London.

"Dad was a bit made up because Ken Dodd was presenting the award. It was dad's dream to meet him. He is an absolute idol for him.

"When he heard he was presenting the award he definitely wanted to win! He wanted to get up on that stage to shake hands with him."

Not that there was a rock'n'roll party after the show. Brendan and co put their pyjamas on and were utterly civilised about their after-show.

"We all went back to dad's hotel room and put on our jammies and drank champagne until about 4.00am. We all just chilled out together and laughed while wondering how we are still getting away with it."

Remarkably, the show isn't a hit with everyone. Not that Carroll minds. He ignores those who aren't on board. "We don't really think about the naysayers because they're the only ones that don't pay in."