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?

I came across this series by chance, after browsing the BBC I-player site. What a discovery.

The whole thing is so true to life, it's scary. Parents who are so involved in their own world they mostly overlook the gems of information their kids come out with. Kids who actually behave like real life kids rather than the usual spoilt little brats (or worse, sugar sweet fakers) that most shows portray.

For me, the star of the show is Karen. The brilliant Ramona Marquez deserves every TV award going..she steals the show every episode. (Her impression of Fiona Bruce in series 2 is hysterical!!) For someone so young she very clearly understands her character, and makes the most of every scene she is in.

IF you haven't seen this show yet, please please please take the time to watch..and then set aside a whole day to watch the full 2 series as I promise one episode won't be enough.

When I first saw the adverts for this show all that crossed my mind was the horror of another family sitcom full of clichés and ridiculous situations.

So I had to watch it. Everyone needs something to bitch about, right?

But when I started laughing and smiling, I realised that Outnumbered had cast away any doubters with brilliant performances from some very talented actors, Hugh Dennis and the children made it look like we were actually watching a real family.

The jokes were funny and realistic, you may argue that a child, who picks up a screwdriver and waves it about, is far fetched, I guarantee you its not.

The show should be boring and bland. Nothing happens except a family go about there day to day business and you cant help but wanting more.

Due to great acting, brilliant writing and ingenious improvisation you are left wondering exactly why you find yourself hooked to what your family is doing downstairs.

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.

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.