Outnumbered (British TV series)

Plot

Outnumbered is centered on the Brockmans, a middle-class family living in West London, whose two parents are "outnumbered" by their three somewhat unruly children. The father, Pete (Hugh Dennis), is a history teacher at an inner city school and the mother, Sue (Claire Skinner), is a part-time personal assistant. The three children are: Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey), the straight man of the family, whose teenage sarcasm and obsession with girls worries his mother, Ben (Daniel Roche), who is hyperactive, a pathological liar, does unusual things, and is always coming up with hypothetical questions like "who would win in a fight between...", and Karen (Ramona Marquez), who asks too many questions, frequently imitates a lot of what she sees on television and criticises nearly everything.

Other regular characters include Sue's new age sister, Angela Morrison (Samantha Bond), and their elderly father Frank (David Ryall), referred to as "Grandad", who is in the early stages of dementia. The writers also use the popular sitcom device of the unseen character in the form of Veronica, Sue's demanding boss in series one. In series two, the device is used again, but in the form of Sue's new boss Tyson, who is revealed to be a conman who absconds in the final episode of the series. Series three introduces Rosalind Ayres as Pete's mum Sandra, referred to as "Gran", who is addicted to online gambling and has a growing hatred for Pete's father.

Other new characters in Series 3 include Kelly (Anna Skellern), on whom Jake has a crush, Angela's new husband Brick (Douglas Hodge), who is an American therapist, and his daughter Taylor Jean, who wants to live with her mum. Also introduced is a campaigner against council plans to place speed bumps on the road (Alex MacQueen) who pesters the family.

By series 5, the Brockman children have changed considerably. Jake has developed a penchant for engaging with a suspect crowd of friends, and a general teenage cockiness. Ben has doubled in size and strength, but not his maturity. And the pre-teen Karen has become moody, sullen and developed a superiority complex.

Production

Outnumbered was the first collaboration between Hamilton and Jenkin since Drop the Dead Donkey ended in 1998. It was commissioned by BBC controller Lucy Lumsden. The executive producer is Jon Rolph. The 20-minute pilot was given to Lumsden, who then commissioned six episodes. The show is set in Chiswick, West London, and shot on location in Wandsworth. The house used for external shots is in Dempster Road. During the second series, the family receive a final demand for council tax from the fictional "Limebridge Council", sent to the fictional address of 19 Keely Road, London, W4 2CF.

The writers use improvisation in order to achieve convincing performances from the child actors. Dennis commented: "In most sitcoms all the lines for children are written by adults. So they are speaking the words of people 30 years older. And you really want kids to have their own voices, and say their own things." Jenkin added:

You rarely get the feeling that children in sitcoms are real. They tend to be the same type of character – the smartarse who says adult things – and they are rooted to the spot, staring at the camera, because they've been told to stand in one place and say the lines. We decided to attempt to do something that hadn't been tried before, bounced some ideas around and we got very keen on this idea of involving improvisation very quickly.

The fourth series began on 2 September 2011 at 9.00 pm on BBC One. After the series had aired, Tyger Drew-Honey suggested that there would be no fifth series because he and the other child actors were growing out of their roles. BBC Television's Head of Communications, Sam Hodges, reassured fans of the series that "contrary to reports, talks are already under way regarding a new series".

The fifth and final series was confirmed by BBC and began to air Wednesday 29 January 2014. The series featured six episodes.

In 2015, Tyger Drew-Honey hinted that the series could return for a Christmas special in 2016. This was officially confirmed by co-creator Andy Hamilton in September 2016.

Ratings

Episode ratings from BARB.

Ratings

The first episode received 4.1 million viewers (25.5% of the audience share) when it began and finished with 2.8 million (19.5%) at the end, which is larger than the average 2.2 million (14%) normally attracted by television shows in its particular time slot. The audience for the second episode fell by half a million viewers, while still being the highest ranking show in its time slot, with 18% of the audience share. However, it maintained a constant audience throughout the first series, with the fourth episode attracting 2.7 million viewers (20% audience share).

Critical reception

The show initially received a mixed reception, though after the second series reviews gradually shifted towards a fairly positive tone. The Daily Mirror found the mundane settings to be similar to the American sitcom Seinfeld, saying:

compared to the ridiculous carry-on of My Family, it's much more low-key and realistic. In fact it's so low-key, nothing actually happens, which could well be a nod to Seinfeld – the touchstone of all great sitcoms. The getting ready for school chaos is like Supernanny: The Movie only with nicer children. It's also taken a leaf out of Curb Your Enthusiasm's book with large chunks of improvisation – although the strongest language you'll find here is "ponk".

Kevin Maher of The Times dismissed the programme, saying it was not funny or dramatic enough. He wrote:

Outnumbered was at its most meretricious. For every exchange between adult and child was hijacked by a crass sitcommy need for sotto voce punchlines and knowing winks to the wings. A protracted scene in which 45-year-old dad (Hugh Dennis) was unable to wrestle a live power drill from the hands of 7-year-old son Ben (Daniel Roche), and instead had to, ho-ho, pay him £5 for the privilege, was emblematic of the show's dubious capacity for fake pay-offs.

Rod Liddle, writing in The Sunday Times, praised the show, although he was somewhat surprised, saying, "An exquisitely middle-class, middle-aged domestic situation comedy set in West London – and starring one of those bloody stand-up comics who now festoons every network, it really should be hated before it is even seen. Start liking this sort of programme and you are an ace away from enjoying Terry and June and having a house that smells faintly of weak tea, Murray Mints and urine. So, maybe it's just me, but Outnumbered is very funny indeed: despite its current bout of self-flagellation, the BBC still knows how to make people laugh. Comedy may be the very last thing the corporation does well."

James Walton wrote in The Daily Telegraph that the domestic setting and more mundane storylines were a virtue, saying, "All of this feels both carefully observed and suspiciously heartfelt. More unusually, it's not contrived. Outnumbered sticks firmly with the mundane, yet manages to be funny about it. It doesn't avoid the sheer dullness involved in family life either – but, happily, depicts it with a winning mixture of exasperation and affection." He did, however, criticise the scheduling of the programme saying, "Despite the very specific London setting, the series (shown in two batches of three, this week and next) will surely appeal to the parents of young children everywhere. As long, that is, as they're not asleep by 10.35pm."

In 2008 review in The Times, Bryan Appleyard described Outnumbered as "the best British sitcom in years and among the best ever".

Awards

Outnumbered was nominated for the 2008 "Broadcast Award" for "Best Comedy Programme", but lost the award to The Thick of It.

The show was given the "British Comedy Guide Editors' Award" in The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2007 and the "Best Returning British TV Sitcom" in The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2008, beating Peep Show by six votes.

In 2009, it won the Royal Television Society Award for "Scripted Comedy", and two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards in the same year: "Best Comedy/Entertainment" and the "Writer's Award". Outnumbered also won three awards at the 2009 British Comedy Awards: Best Sitcom, Best British Comedy and Best Female Newcomer for Ramona Marquez.

At the National Television Awards in 2011, Outnumbered was nominated for Best Comedy but lost out to ITV's Benidorm. It was nominated again the following year and won.

DVD releases

All four series and the two Christmas specials are available on DVD. The first Comic Relief special is available on the Series 2 DVD, the first Sport Relief special is available on the Series 3 DVD and the second Comic Relief special is available on the Series 4 DVD. It has been said that the second Sport Relief special will either be available on the next Christmas Special DVD or the Series 5 DVD (if they will be filmed or if they have been filmed). The DVDs have been published by 2 Entertain.

Series 5 was released on DVD on 10 March 2014 and also included the 2012 Christmas Special on a separate disc