THE BBC’s director of comedy Jon Petrie earns more than £210,000 and his job is to find programmes  the corporation’s viewers will actually find funny.

But this week at a comedy showcase he was asked if he found Mrs Brown’s Boys funny, and whether he would watch it if he didn’t have to.

Instead of shouting YES! at the top of his voice, he was unable to even give an answer.

He patronisingly laughed it off before a rude silence that told us all we needed to know about the top brass at the Beeb, who have an uppity attitude towards the people who actually watch their programmes.

Imagine if, during a supermarket conference, the head of Tesco or Aldi said  they didn’t like their own range of budget baked beans and preferred Heinz. They’d be out on their ears.

Jon Petrie and his woke colleagues should be too. Last month the comedy boss said  he wanted more sitcoms that are “laugh- out-loud” comedies with “a high joke rate”.

If he wasn’t such a snob, he would realise he has got it.

Mrs Brown’s Boys is the biggest comedy ratings winner Auntie has.

 It pulled in more viewers than Doctor Who at Christmas and was named the best British sitcom of the 21st century, beating others including  The Office and Gavin & Stacey.

Its fanbase love the “laugh-out-loud” humour with a “high joke rate”.

Which makes the comedy boss’s response insulting to all those viewers who enjoy it.

He later issued a statement saying  the show had “made me laugh many times” and he was “proud” to have it in the BBC comedy stable.

Talk about trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted! Yes, Mrs Brown’s Boys is like Marmite, with some critics panning it.

But viewers absolutely adore it. The ratings figures themselves tell us that.

And if this boss had a down-to-earth, decent bone in his body, he would realise  he should be aligned with those British TV licence-fee payers who are providing his wages.

I have chatted to creator Brendan O’Carroll, inset as Mrs Brown,  several times. He is without doubt one of the loveliest, kindest, most down-to-earth — and funniest — blokes I’ve ever interviewed.

During one interview he told me how happy he was that Mrs Brown’s Boys was received so well.

 He spoke of the letters he has been sent from all over the world, but especially from the parents of  children with autism who enjoy the show. 

I know he doesn’t take criticism of the show seriously, as he says that comedy is subjective.

Gigantic salaries

And I can confidently say he won’t care a bit about what the idiotic, stuck-up bosses at the BBC think.

But we do care because it is us taxpayers who are paying for those lefties with their gigantic salaries to look down their noses at us.

The BBC’s total income from the licence fee in 2023 was £3.74billion, which accounted for about 65 per cent of its total income of £5.73billion.

Right now, the licence fee is £159 a year but an expert warned this week that under Labour leadership, “prices will rise and inflation will go back up again”.

And that means the licence fee, which is aligned to inflation, will also be hiked.

I hope that whoever is in charge of the next government scraps the licence fee, which is now so outdated.

It is surely time to stop the out-of- touch corporation bosses, who are laughing at us, not with us, taking our cash for granted.

Or as Mrs Brown herself would probably say, it is time for us to tell them to just “Feck Off!”

LAURYN PLAYS IT RIGHT

LAURYN GOODMAN has been slated left, right and centre for taking Kyle Walker’s four-year-old son Kairo to watch him play in the Euros.

But I really think the flack she’s had is harsh, unnecessary and cruel. 

Yes he’s young to watch a game, yes he’s estranged from the footballer.

But Kyle is the only dad her little boy has got and this could be the last major tournament the footballer  is  in. Why wouldn’t you take him? I would do  the same.

Her trip to Germany will have created memories to last for ever for that little lad. He will never be able to say, “Why didn’t you take me to see my dad play in the Euros?”

I’ve met Lauryn and she’s actually an amazing mum who always puts her children first.

And  I’ve heard her crying as she has struggled to cope with the abuse she has received and the sadness she feels for her kids. 

Maybe those who slate her might do well to ask what they’d do in the same situation and remember  it’s the bloke on the pitch who really needs a little lesson in parenting, not her.

WILLS ON HAT TRICK

PRINCESS Eugenie is the member of the Royal Family who I’d love to have a night out with. 

Just like her mum Fergie, she appears to be bubbly and fun. And at Royal Ascot it was clear  she had won over Prince William again. 

Their relationship thawed after Prince Harry’s departure sparked a royal rift between them. Cameras captured her and William chatting together before he playfully tweaked her hat tassel and the pair shared a laugh.

 I wonder if he told her she looked as though she should be working for Emirates airline.

GUTSY LOOK, ALBERT

I HAVE never loved the whole “one size fits all” when it comes to clothing. 

And I bet you Prince Albert II of Monaco agrees with me. 

The poor fella was given the honour, along with 10,000 others, of carrying the Olympic torch from Greece to Paris.

 As well as the honour, they were each given a stylish white tracksuit  to wear.

 All OK for his stunning, slender wife Princess Charlene and Hollywood icon Halle Berry.

Clearly not so great for the portly prince.

JUSTIN LESSONS TO FANS

“IT’S been a tough week,” Justin Timberlake whinged to the crowd in his first concert since  being accused of drink driving.

He added: “I know sometimes I’m hard to love but you keep on loving me and I love you right back. Thank you so much.” 

Woe is me. Police said Timberlake was observed “operating his vehicle in an intoxicated condition”, around 12.37am on Tuesday after going out with friends.  He was held overnight and formally charged with a driving while intoxicated misdemeanour  before being released.

Now the millionaire is back on stage pulling in a fortune thanks to his adoring fans. This is a man who has had more opportunities than most. 

He is in a position where he can influence others. 

If convicted, what he should say is  that he made a dreadful mistake, will  get  help and tell  young fans to never, ever follow in his footsteps as  drink-driving can kill. 

CREAM SOUR

ON Friday morning I got a call from my son’s school  asking if they could put sunscreen on him because he had told them  “Mummy hadn’t put it on”. 

Talk about a tell-tale. But then I realised  not being Mum of the Year was probably a good thing on this occasion, because the suntan lotion I’d been using on him was utterly pointless anyway. 

Consumer group Which? found that certain sun creams do not meet their SPF and UVA, including the one I’d bought from Amazon thanks to  rave reviews.

It’s a tough enough job being a parent without realising you’ve inadvertently been putting your son in the sun without proper protection.  

lIF ever there was a good reason to get married, this is it.

Kirk Stevens was overjoyed when he won £10,000 a month for 30 years in a Set For Life draw with his partner Laura Hoyle, below.

But just a year after the lucky win in 2021, Laura dumped Kirk, took all the winnings and moved into the £500,000  mansion they had  planned to share. 

Laura came out on top because she had used her card to buy the winning ticket and small print meant he  was left with nothing.

 Now she really is set for life while he deals with the lotto curse.

ASDA has now banned “granny trolleys” to try to crack down on shoplifters. 

Shoppers at the store in Leyton, East London, have been caught slipping pro-ducts into the wheel- ed bags and then using self-checkout machines to scan some – but not all – of the goods.

Asda is   insisting that customers leave their trolleys at the front of the store and pick them up when they leave, which  has caused outrage among  many of the shoppers.

 It brings a whole new meaning to gran-d larceny.