Outnumbered

A complaint often levelled at television is that there are far too many repeats slotted into the schedules, which can be a highly valid gripe. But when the repeat in question is another go for Outnumbered series two (which gained decent ratings on its previous Saturday showing), we'll let it go. Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's heavily improvised comedy is a constant delight as Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner play the average couple with three kids - and it's the kids that steal the show every time. In this first episode, Pete and Sue shepherd their brood to a family wedding - with predictably chaotic results. Highly recommended.

Ah, you lucky things. This is another chance to see the opening episode from the last series of Outnumbered, about the travails of a middle-class couple with three children struggling to do their best and failing miserably. Sharply observed and brilliantly cast, it is accurate, warm-hearted, understated and free of a horrible laughter track. But what makes it so special, above and beyond all those other estimable qualities, is the astonishing acting of the three children. They are the most natural comic performances from children that I have ever seen on television. Sitcoms are usually a form of hell on earth, in which the viewer feels as though he or she is being torn apart by a pack of brain-dead hyenas. This is a glorious, life-enhancing exception.

Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin Interview

The Independent meets Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin. If a show has ever made you laugh, these two probably wrote the script. They gave us a rare interview for Red Nose Day, which this year includes an episode of their hit comedy Outnumbered.

Fox to air US remake of Outnumbered

US network Fox has given the go-ahead for an American version of critically lauded BBC1 comedy Outnumbered. The part-improvised show, about middle class parents trying to cope with three unruly children, pulled in about 5 million viewers when it aired on BBC1 in a late-night Saturday slot at the end of last year. Fox has been developing a US version since last year and has now ordered a pilot, which if successful could be commissioned for a full series.

U.K. 'Outnumbered' by new laughs

Following The Office and Gavin and Stacey, the BBC may have another hit laffer on its hands with Outnumbered, a meticulously observed, downbeat comedy focusing on middle-class, cash-strapped, contemporary family life in suburban London.

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. Hence the angelic Karen's reproach to her father, "You're spending all the money on salads and beer!" and her comment on her grandfather's smell, "When you're old you have a special smell so you know when they're near." Grandfather, having incipient Alzheimer's, is also a child but going in the opposite direction. Well worth embroidering on a couple of cushions is his sound advice to his grandson, "Don't ever invade Russia!", and to his son-in-law, a history teacher, "There's no future in history."

In Outnumbered, 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. Hence the angelic Karen's reproach to her father, 'You're spending all the money on salads and beer!' and her comment on her grandfather's smell, 'When you're old you have a special smell so you know when they're near.'

Grandfather, having incipient Alzheimer's, is also a child but going in the opposite direction. Well worth embroidering on a couple of cushions is his sound advice to his grandson, 'Don't ever invade Russia!', and to his son-in-law, a history teacher, 'There's no future in history'.

The 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.

Sitcom lets kids improvise

The series has been almost universally praised by the critics, and has even been compared in some quarters to The Simpsons in its portrayal of what Brian Appleyard describes as a 'dysfunctional family redeemed by love'.

Why Outnumbered is so good

You'll recognise that the children involved are startlingly natural and funny in their responses, of course, and that Ramona Marquez as five-year-old Karen effortlessly steals any scene in which she features.