Outnumbered (UK TV Series)

''Outnumbered'' is a British sitcom about the Brockman family, starring Hugh Dennis as the father, Claire Skinner as the mother and their three children played by Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche and Ramona Marquez.

There were five series, which aired on BBC One from 2007 to 2014. A Christmas special aired on 26 December 2016. More specials are planned after the success of the 2016 Christmas special.

Produced by Hat Trick Productions, ''Outnumbered'' was written, directed and produced by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, although parts of the show are semi-improvised. The adult actors learn the scripts, while the children are given last-minute instructions by the writers instead.

The programme has received critical acclaim for its semi-improvisational scripting and realistic portrayal of children and family life. Ratings have been average for its time slot, but the series has won a number of awards from the Comedy.co.uk awards, the Royal Television Society, the British Comedy Awards and the Broadcasting Press Guild. Plans for an American adaptation were announced in February 2009, but this has not materialised. The original series began airing in the US on BBC America on 30 July 2011, as well as airing on PBS stations.

Plot

''Outnumbered'' is centred on the Brockmans, a middle-class family living in Chiswick, whose two parents are "outnumbered" by their three somewhat unruly children. The father, Pete (Hugh Dennis), is a history teacher at a dysfunctional inner city school and the mother, Sue (Claire Skinner), is a part-time personal assistant and is four years younger than Pete. 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 (experimenting or as Pete puts it, "roasting insects"), 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 (reenacting reality shows with her toys) 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. He is a silent and deceased character in the 2016 special. The writers also use the popular sitcom device of the unseen character in the form of Veronica, Sue's unreasonably 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", on online-gambling addict with a growing hatred for Pete's father, from whom she has separated, though has not divorced as she "couldn't face all the paperwork".

Other new characters in Series 3 include Kelly (Anna Skellern), a psychology student on whom Jake has a crush, Angela's new husband Brick (Douglas Hodge), who is an American therapist (later revealed to be abusive towards his children, especially 15-year-old Misty), 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 as she heads towards a prestigious secondary school.

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. 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 child performers were cast based on how their responses reflected the outlines of the characters they would be playing. Hamilton said in an interview: "I saw about 30 hildren then we whittled it down to the perfect three. Ramona arquez..was in the same class as Guy's twin sons. His wife said to him: 'There's a girl who's got something - you should meet her.'"

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
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