GOOD Mourning Mrs Brown, currently showing at the Liverpool Empire, is the second play in a series of five, which make up the Mrs Brown trilogy (yes, you read that right).

From his opening line, writer Brendan O’Carroll, hammers home the important role Liverpool has played in the show’s rise to fame.

“Never forget it all started here in Liverpool and we came back to say thank you,” he claims.

From Liverpool’s Royal Court stage, O’Carroll and co have risen to the heady heights of a BBC BAFTA-nominated sitcom, which pulled in more than 4m viewers.

The obvious fart jokes and done-to-death innuendos have led critics to pooh-pooh Mrs Brown, but there are also a wealth of witty one-liners and good old-fashioned slapstick.

During this escapade, which is set in the familiar Dublin living room, daughter Cathy has love trouble, son Dermot plans a burglary and Grandad wants to attend his own funeral.

The timing is spot on, although Rory Cowan, playing son Rory Brown, often fails to deliver lines after O’Carroll leaves him in fits of giggles with unscripted funnies.

Waiting for a red-faced Cowan to compose himself, O’Carroll turns to the audience to quip: “I remember writing this scene and it wasn’t this long!”

The laughs are relentless and, although some jokes are tired, the audience has nothing but affection for those on stage.

Jo Kelly