Brendan O'Carroll Slams BBC's 'Panorama', Defends 'Mrs' Brown's Boys' Stars Over Paradise Papers Scandal

‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys’ creator and star Brendan O’Carroll has mounted a staunch defence of his daughter and other members of the show’s cast, after they became caught up in the recent ‘Paradise Papers’ tax avoidance scandal.

In an irate letter directed at the BBC’s ‘Panorama’ programme, O’Carroll slammed the producers for the way they treated his daughter Fiona Delany, her husband Martin and fellow co-star Patrick Houlihan – the three cast members named in the leaked documents for spending £2 million in an off-shore tax avoidance scheme.

“She is not an oligarch laundering money through Greek banks, nor does she deal in the arms trade, deal drugs or traffic people,” the letter published in The Sun on Thursday (November 9th) said. “She has never committed a crime in her life, she doesn't have a private yacht or own a collection of luxury cars. She drives a Kia people carrier, which is necessary if you have four toddlers.”

Brendan O'Carroll celebrating a National Television Award win in January 2017

The 62 year old Irish actor, who plays the titular matriarch in the wildly popular but critically derided sitcom that’s been running since 2011, said he didn’t understand why the ‘Panorama’ episode focussed so heavily on the cast.

“None of the 'Mrs. Brown' people have a Rolls Royce or a yacht. Yet there seems to be an effort going on to tarnish the name of the show. But I’m sure the viewers know us better, that we are upfront, and always have been.”

More: ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ named best British sitcom of the 21st century

“No-one involved with ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ has done anything illegal. Everybody that featured in that show did what they did for completely different reasons,” his defence continued.

However, the BBC has since replied, defending itself in turn from O’Carroll’s criticisms. “This investigation shows there is clear and public interest in the information being reported,” a statement from the corporation read.

“It has been conducted in a fair and impartial way by our award-winning current affairs programme ‘Panorama’ and BBC News journalists. A thorough and fair right of reply procedure was followed. We're satisfied that we've acted fairly and followed our editorial guidelines.”

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