Outnumbered
- TV sitcom
- BBC One
- 2007 - 2024
- 36 episodes (5 series)
A semi-improvised sitcom based around a young family in London, starring Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner. Also features Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche, Ramona Marquez, Samantha Bond, David Ryall and Lorraine Pilkington
- Series 5, Episode 1 repeated Saturday at 5:05pm on U&W
Streaming rank this week: 820
Episode menu
Series 2, Episode 5
Further details
Mum and Dad try to organise a quiet meal out together. But first they have to escape the house - which won't be easy, given that their six-year-old daughter feels they're being financially irresponsible by dining out during a credit crunch.
The evening does not go well. Dad is soon revealing that he's been checking out something he shouldn't on the internet, Jake is being advised on why he should never invade Russia, and Ben is refused entry to an imaginary restaurant.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Saturday 13th December 2008
- Time
- 9:40pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Hugh Dennis | Pete |
| Claire Skinner | Sue |
| Tyger Drew-Honey | Jake |
| Daniel Roche | Ben |
| Ramona Marquez | Karen |
| David Ryall | Frank (Grandad) |
| Michaela Brooks | Jo (Jake's Girlfriend) |
| Anna Koval | Draxi (Babysitter) |
| Guy Jenkin | Writer |
| Andy Hamilton | Writer |
| Guy Jenkin | Director |
| Andy Hamilton | Director |
| Guy Jenkin | Producer |
| Andy Hamilton | Producer |
| Jimmy Mulville | Executive Producer |
| Nigel Williams | Editor |
| Mark Davis | Editor |
| Graeme Story | Production Designer |
| Philip Pope | Composer |
Video
The Trouble With Old People
A Croatian babysitter has a night to remember when Mum and Dad manage to escape for a meal together.
Featuring: Samantha Bond (Auntie Angela), Hugh Dennis (Pete), Ramona Marquez (Karen) & David Ryall (Frank (Grandad)).
Press
In Outnumbered (BBC1, Saturday), I get the strong sensation that Ben and Karen have been mixing with rough children behind the camera. Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, who write, direct, produce and generally lead astray, have been seen whispering to them between takes.
Nancy Banks-Smith, The Guardian, 15th December 2008The best sitcom currently on TV has to be Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's Outnumbered, which succeeds in being both charming and funny in equal measure.
Hugh Dennis and Clare Skinner star as the parents to three young children. That's about it, concept wise, and the plotlines are equally uncluttered. This week the family were delayed at a foreign airport and pass the time by playing games, crashing luggage trolleys, teasing police dogs, terrorising a passenger on crutches and trying to explain to a four year old child why religious fanatics might want to blow their plane up.
Apparently much of the younger cast members' dialogue is semi improvised, which accounts for the stunningly spontaneous performances and some unexpectedly bizarre lines. For the grown ups there is a terrific script to deliver, packed with intelligence, wit, subtlety and imagination. Dennis and Skinner make the most of it, and also manage to generate considerable screen chemistry that holds the whole show together.
Harry Venning, The Stage, 15th December 2008