David Ryall

Outnumbered star David Ryall has died

David Ryall, the English character actor who was a familiar face in an array of TV favourites, has died. The actor played the grandfather in the hit BBC comedy Outnumbered but was a well-known presence in a variety of other small-screen hits such as The Singing Detective, Goodnight Sweetheart and The Village.

Sue and Pete (Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis) decide to go on holiday to the Canary Islands... on Christmas Day. Cue a well-worked against-the-clock farce involving a dental emergency, a house-sitting sister whose boyfriend may or may not have a criminal record, and a visit to Sue's father (the excellent David Ryall) in hospital.

Stephanie Cole and David Ryall star in the last of a quartet of plays (each by a different writer) about grown-up children who (for various and recognisable reasons) still live at home. This one's by Alexander Kirk, about a skinflint son and a more impulsive mum. Each has been interesting, sometimes touching and remarkable for showcasing the impressive range of acting talent among Britain's older actresses.

Parents-under-siege sitcom Outnumbered is a slow-burning hit that's steadily accumulated both favourable ratings and gongs (it picked up three British Comedy Awards earlier this month). Rightly so, because it's a rare beast: a comedy that captures the chaos of family life without lapsing into sentimentality. This festive episode, then, is a welcome taster for the third series next spring. It's Boxing Day in the Brockman household and, along with Santa, some burglars have squeezed down the chimney. As usual, precocious, pet-obsessed seven-year-old Karen (the remarkable Ramona Marquez) steals the best scenes - she's not only lost the school hamster under the floorboards, but takes it upon herself to make everybody else's New Year's Resolutions, with typical tact. Meanwhile, brother Ben (mop-topped tyke Daniel Roche) wreaks gleeful havoc with a mechanical hand and eldest Jake (the preposterously named Tyger Drew-Honey) is trying to find Awol grandfather Frank (David Ryall). The increasingly senile old goat couldn't be hiding with the hamster, could he? Parents Pete and Sue (Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner) preside over this pandemonium with beleaguered bafflement.