COMEDIAN AND ENTERTAINER Brendan O’Carroll is pursuing legal action against a company which is selling DVDs of screen adaptations of his ‘Mrs Brown’ plays, after a company he was previously involved with began selling a box set of the screenplays with the title ‘The original series’.
The Dubliner has begun legal action to stop DVD distributors RMG Chart Entertainment Ltd from marketing a 12-disc DVD box set with the name “Mrs Brown’s Boys and Brendan O’Carroll” – in packaging which claims to include “the original series”.
O’Carroll and his company BOC Productions Ltd are seeking a High Court declaration that the DVD is not a box set of the award-winning ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ TV series which has gained a cult following on BBC and RTÉ – and a declaration that RMG is trying to mislead the public by confusing people into thinking the DVD includes that TV series.
The DVD actually contains the feature-length screen adaptations of the seven earlier stage plays upon which the current TV series is based. Those adaptations were only ever distributed as direct-to-DVD releases and are not thought to have ever been broadcast on television.
The set also contains a DVD of out-takes and bloopers from the filming of the earlier seven productions, and four of O’Carroll’s earlier stand-up comedy shows.
They are also seeking an order stopping RMG Chart Entertainment, trading as ‘Indi Entertainment’, from promoting the DVD box set with the words “the original series”. They are further seeking damages for breach of a 2006 agreement concerning the sale of those shows outside the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
O’Carroll’s summons, which has been seen by TheJournal.ie, also seeks a Court declaration that the marketing of the box set could confuse fans of the BBC/RTÉ series, the third series of which is due to premiere on Christmas Day, into thinking that this series is included in the box set.
The first two series of that show, which has won IFTA and BAFTA awards, is also currently available on DVD.
The Finglas native has said the third series will be the last one to air on TV, though the BBC has commissioned four Christmas specials which will keep the show on the air, albeit in a limited format, until O’Carroll turns 61 in 2016.
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