Outnumbered

'Outnumbered': the return of a Noughty pleasure

The BBC TV comedy that encapsulates the family angst of a generation of overstretched, bewildered middle-class parents makes a welcome return.

Outnumbered: Not the run-of-the-mill family sitcom

Four series in, Outnumbered has gained popularity and the seat-of-the-pants style still works as well as it did back in 2007.

The show that's given family sitcoms a good name returns for a fourth series. Tonight's plot centres on a family funeral and Pete losing his teaching job after resigning on a point of principle. Not that any ongoing story is necessarily what keeps you watching here. No, it's the details that make you squirm in recognition, as when Pete's mother ("I lack the warmth thing") suddenly remembers one of her klutzy son's childhood nicknames: "Cack hands!"

As My Family comes to an end, Outnumbered picks up the domestic sitcom baton and hits a home run.

Another year has passed but Karen and Ben are still able to exasperate their parents and their older brother Jake with their realistically surreal childish logic.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Tonight the family are off to a funeral. It's Pete's duty to perform the eulogy for his Uncle Bob but the kids are determined not to miss out on this chance for what they see as a party.

As Pete and Sue try to avoid upsetting Karen by explaining to her that a funeral is a happy occasion, they end up settling on "sad, with a strong element of celebration".

But Ben isn't worried. He's been to a cremation before - or at least he thinks he has.

It proves to be the unlikely subject for one of the best jokes in a lovely episode that also contains a special gag just for Jeremy Clarkson.

Weird, isn't it, that on the same night that My Family, BBC1's old-style sitcom about the comic domestic trials of the middle-class Harper family, quietly shuffles off TV's mortal coil the new series of Outnumbered, BBC1's semi-improvisational and much more realistic domestic comedy about the middle-class Brockman family, starts a new series.

Over the previous three series the show's young stars have honed their adult-baiting antics to perfection, while the weary, defeated or bemused expressions on the faces of Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis ring ever more true. The family are attending Uncle Bob's funeral in this episode. "The important thing to remember is that it's not a sad day," Sue tries to tell Karen, who very reasonably retorts, "Well, it is for Uncle Bob." Ben, meanwhile, insists he's been to a cremation before - except Pete points out that it was actually a hog roast. Not surprisingly, the vicar (John Sessions) wishes they'd never come.

Outnumbered: Leader of the comedy revolution?

Combining fine actor improvisation, a smart script and some relatively innocuous storylines to paint a familiar picture of the 'joys' of family life, Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's creation has amassed enough prizes to make Alex Ferguson go green-eyed. But with the kids another year older I wondered if it could still cut it.

Just in time to replace My Family, the popular sitcom about the chaotic Brockman family returns for its fourth series. This opening episode sees a family funeral, so parents Pete and Sue (the suitably beleaguered Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner) must decide which of their unruly brood to take along. John Sessions pops up in an amusing cameo as the vicar. It might be lighter on laughs than a truly top-drawer sitcom, but it's charming stuff and you can see why it wins awards, mainly thanks to the children's semi-improvised performances.

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