Mrs. Brown's Boys

In a second interminable festive instalment of Mrs Brown's Boys, Agnes's grandson Bono is being bullied, so, erm, she decides to threaten to stab the bully in question at the school gates. Unsurprisingly, that inflames the situation, so a mediation session with the boy's mother is called, prior to which Agnes gets stoned on Grandad Brown's medical marijuana. As ever, the best bits are when the cast - mercifully - forget their lines.

Why you just don't get Mrs Brown's Boys

Can't fathom how Brendan O'Carroll's comedy became such a big hit at Christmas (and the rest of the year)? Sarah Doran investigates...

I hate this. Let me be clear on that. I hate it but include it here because I know it's wildly popular. This episode is called Chez Mammy and the audience laughs at the first two or three seconds when a cast member is simply sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. Maybe, then, it's the audience I hate; they're only encouraging this type of thing! Or maybe I simply don't get the joke. Mrs Brown is brought to the door by two strapping policemen who say they found her wandering the streets confused, so thought it best to bring her home.

Everyone in your household, even your snoozing dad, your deaf budgie and your leftover New Year steak pie, will see the punchline coming: she just wanted a lift home with her shopping. And Bono is being bullied at school so Mrs Brown steps in - and makes it all worse. Elsewhere, jokes abound with a stair lift and some marijuana.

Mrs Brown: Jokes 20 years past their sell-by date

O'Carroll's speech about bullying had me retrospectively wishing I hadn't loathed what had gone before. Yet the irony was that for the previous 30 minutes the viewer had been menaced with endless groaners.