Outnumbered

Stumbled across this on an Australian catch up TV website and was just so delighted by the whole series I have recommended it constantly to family and friends. All the characters are beautifully drawn, the children, so normal and so extraordinarily gifted in their portrayals, the adults all flailing helplessly under their skewering questions and inconvenient presence and trying desperately to manage the minutiae and constant throb of everyday "adult" issues. This is a fond and gentle study of a real family where irrational squabbles, thumps and bumps happen regardless of adult conversations and concerns. Unlike any other family sitcom, British or American, the grown up issues and conversations are not "encapsulated" in some weird vacuum where every room in the house is spotless and looks like it has sprung from the pages of a magazine, and where background noise is non existent and problems and issues are all sorted in under 30 minutes. I am a mother myself, and have had a "Ben" of my own, so I completely get the bemused and frustrated love of Dad, Pete, the tired and gentle patience of Mum, Sue, who is also coping with a rat bag sister with no sense of responsibility and a father drifting off into a world of dementia. I just want to give young "Jake" the biggest hug as he tries valiantly to support Mum and Dad quietly and carefully, whilst still needing to do a whole lot more growing up himself. And then there is Karen of the lively intelligence and the never ending quest to see clarity and certainty in a world where grown ups use words like "never" and "always" and just don't follow through. This is a real gem of a series and the writers have captured the real essence of modern family life for lots of parents and have been assisted faultlessly in their portrayal by gifted and intelligent actors who know when not to labour the point. Well done and can I have some more, please?

There have been lots of attempts to show the comic side of so called "ordinary life" but they always fall into the trap of trying to create gags, as opposed to reflecting what we all know, which is that real life often throws up comic moments if only you let it. This is exactly what the producers, writers, directors, actors have got together to do. After watching 2 episodes I thought these kids are absolutely brilliant - they are being allowed to express themselves with none of the stiffness that a script would bring about. This is especially true for the young actors but it is also true for the excellent Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis, and you can see the delight on their faces as they react to the children's spontaneity. It just shows how powerful the technique of improvised and semi-improvised filming can be, and whilst it's not a new device, I personally believe it's greatly underused. We all know about Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Woody Allen etc, and we constantly hear about great moments which ended up in a film which were the result of some spontaneous improvisation, and yet we steer away from this dangerous approach. I don't want to put writers out of a job, and in Outnumbered we can see once again the originality and creativity of Andy Hamilton's and Guy Jenkin's style, but they appreciate that they are part of a creative team which produces an end product greater than the sum of its parts. Let's use the technique more in 'adult' drama and comedy and not think that it only works where there are cute kids!

A word too about the subject matter itself. It is so extraordinarily well-observed and accurate; I recognise 99% of what's going on on screen. Now I realise that this is a portrayal of one particular life style, and not all the truths are universal ones, but the fact that the choice of family is relatively specific should not lead to it being dismissed as a comedy for the chattering classes, as though that somehow negates its worth.

Don't listen to that t*** who gave it 1/10 this is an amazing sit-com and it is one of the reasons I am proud to be British. It may be predictable and clichéd but that is part of its charm. Karen and Ben (the younger ones) are the best part their clashes are so funny and their logic is insane. What I mean by that is Karen is so literal and Ben is borderline nuts and thats great. The fourth series is on soon (When this review was posted) and I for one can't wait to see it and if you see this before Friday WATCH IT. Oh and one more thing that guys says it 'depressing' but it's not it deals with issues that any English family would face and I think it is a good mould for parenting you will not believe how much stuff my parents has taken from it (except they don't work cos we know how to get around them)

This is just a terrific series. Why the BBC saw fit to bury it with no fanfare is totally mystifying. It is beautifully put together by the writers, actors and director and works just about as well as it possibly could. Hugh Dennis and Clare Skinner are great as the long-suffering parents and are beautifully matched. It is the children though that make this unusual sitcom work. They deliver their lines with fantastic timing and a real sense of reality. Ramona Marquez is just wonderful and so funny - annoying and sweet at the same time - a very difficult thing to pull off. Daniel Roche and Tyger Drew-Honey (what a name!!) are just as good as seasoned professional actors twice their age. I am so glad a laugh track was not added - it makes the action seem so much more real plus it is so funny it does not need one. it needs to be promoted properly and it would achieve a greater status with the viewing public - the BBC are notorious for poor promotion, unless it is another sodding cookery programme!! Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins are to be congratulated on the creation of this marvellous piece of work.

This is simply the best written sitcom of the year so far, certainly for the BBC, it plays like The Royle Family for the middle class each line is perfectly written and timed to perfection. Hugh Dennis is always good when he looks a little flustered and Claire Skinner is great as harassed mother while Samantha Bond proves their is life after well.. Bond as the ditzy aunt. But its the kids who really should be praised for the most realistic portrayals of children on T.V. ever. Mostly improvising their lines to avoid falling into the clichés - the elder boy is the antithesis of the eleven year old in his first weeks at secondary school keeping his head down, monosyllabic and trying to keep the fact he is being bullied under wraps. The younger boy plays for laughs as the constantly lying middle child he is full of energy and manages to be annoying and likable at the same time. While the little girl is really cute and asking any question that pops into her brain stumping the parents every five minutes. The show is also great with dealing with issues such political correctness, bullying, the class system and the elderly in such a breezy and non-preachy manner. After several years in the wilderness following the success of Drop the Dead Donkey, Guy Jenkins and Andy Hamilton have created another great sitcom which has been buried in the schedules by the BBC and therefore probably won't be noticed by most people who turn the TV off after the 10 o'clock news, this may find cult status on repeat viewing and come back for a second series in a new and improved time slot.