Outnumbered facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Outnumbered |
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The title card from the first episode
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| Genre | Comedy drama Sitcom |
| Created by | Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin |
| Written by | Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin |
| Directed by | Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin |
| Starring | Claire Skinner Hugh Dennis Tyger Drew-Honey Daniel Roche Ramona Marquez Samantha Bond David Ryall Rosalind Ayres |
| Composer(s) | Philip Pope |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 35 (+ 5 shorts) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jimmy Mulville Jon Rolph |
| Producer(s) | Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin Pat Lees |
| Production location(s) | West London |
| Cinematography | Martin Hawkins Rob Kitzmann |
| Editor(s) | Mark Williams Mark Davis Nigel Williams Steve Tempia Simon Reglar |
| Running time | 30 minutes 40 minutes (specials) |
| Production company(s) | Hat Trick Productions BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One BBC One HD |
| Original release | 28 August 2007 – 5 March 2014 |
Outnumbered is a popular British sitcom about the funny and often chaotic life of the Brockman family. It stars Hugh Dennis as the dad, Claire Skinner as the mum, and their three children played by Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche, and Ramona Marquez.
The show had five main series, which were shown on BBC One from 2007 to 2014. A special Christmas episode aired in 2016. The show is known for being partly improvised. The adult actors learn their lines, but the child actors are often given their instructions right before filming. This helps make their reactions seem very real.
Outnumbered has been praised for its realistic way of showing family life and how children act. It has won several awards, including from the Royal Television Society and the British Comedy Awards.
Contents
Meet the Brockman Family
The show focuses on the Brockmans, a middle-class family who live in Chiswick, London. The parents often feel "outnumbered" by their three lively children.
Pete and Sue Brockman
- Pete (Hugh Dennis) is the dad. He works as a history teacher at a school that has a lot of problems.
- Sue (Claire Skinner) is the mum. She works part-time as a personal assistant.
The Brockman Kids
- Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) is the oldest child. He is often the most sensible, but as a teenager, he becomes sarcastic and very interested in girls. This sometimes makes his mum worry.
- Ben (Daniel Roche) is the middle child. He is very energetic and sometimes tells made-up stories. He also does unusual things, like experimenting with insects. Ben loves asking funny "what if" questions, like "who would win in a fight between...?"
- Karen (Ramona Marquez) is the youngest. She asks a lot of questions and often copies things she sees on TV, even acting out reality shows with her toys. She also likes to give her opinion on almost everything.
Other Family Members
- Angela Morrison (Samantha Bond) is Sue's sister. She has a very modern and spiritual way of thinking.
- Frank Morrison (David Ryall) is Sue and Angela's elderly dad, known as "Granddad." In later episodes, he starts to show signs of dementia.
- Sandra Brockman (Rosalind Ayres) is Pete's mum, known as "Gran." She loves online gambling and doesn't get along with Pete's dad, even though they are still married.
Other Characters
Over the series, other characters appear:
- Kelly (Anna Skellern) is a psychology student who Jake likes.
- Brick (Douglas Hodge) is Angela's American husband. He is a therapist.
- Taylor Jean is Brick's daughter who wants to live with her mum.
As the children grow up in the show, their personalities change. By the fifth series:
- Jake hangs out with a group of friends that worry his parents. He also becomes more confident as a teenager.
- Ben grows much bigger and stronger, but he doesn't always become more mature.
- Karen, as a pre-teen, becomes more moody and thinks she knows everything, especially as she gets ready for a good secondary school.
How the Show Was Made
Outnumbered was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. They had not worked together since their show Drop the Dead Donkey ended in 1998. The idea for Outnumbered was given to the BBC, and they decided to make six episodes.
The show is set in Chiswick, West London, but it was actually filmed in Wandsworth. The house used for the outside shots is on Dempster Road.
Using Improvisation
The writers used improvisation to make the child actors' performances feel very real. Guy Jenkin explained that they wanted to create something new. He felt that children in other sitcoms often seemed fake, just standing still and saying their lines. They decided to try involving improvisation early on.
The child actors were chosen based on how well their natural reactions matched the characters. Andy Hamilton shared how they found Ramona Marquez, who plays Karen: "Ramona...was in the same class as Guy's twin sons. His wife said to him: 'There's a girl who's got something - you should meet her.'"
Future of the Show
After the fourth series, Tyger Drew-Honey (who plays Jake) thought there might not be a fifth series because the child actors were getting older. However, the BBC confirmed that talks were happening for a new series.
The fifth and final series was confirmed by the BBC and started airing in January 2014. It had six episodes. In 2015, Tyger Drew-Honey hinted that the show might return for a Christmas special in 2016, which was later confirmed by co-creator Andy Hamilton.
Cast and Characters
Main Cast
- Claire Skinner as Sue Brockman
- Hugh Dennis as Pete Brockman
- Tyger Drew-Honey as Jake Brockman
- Daniel Roche as Ben Brockman
- Ramona Marquez as Karen Brockman
Recurring Cast
- Samantha Bond as Angela Morrison
- David Ryall as Frank “Grandad” Morrison
- Hattie Morahan as Jane
- Lorraine Pilkington as Barbara
- Rosalind Ayres as Sandra “Gran” Brockman
- Anna Skellern as Kelly
- David Troughton as Mr. Hunslet
Guest Appearances
- Jacob Anderson
- Michele Austin
- Mark Benton
- Emily Berrington
- Sanjeev Bhaskar
- Silas Carson
- Lolita Chakrabarti
- Louisa Connolly-Burnham
- Jake D'Arcy
- Lucinda Dryzek
- Daisy Edgar-Jones
- Rebecca Front
- Chris Geere
- Stella Gonet
- Daisy Haggard
- Mark Heap
- Julia Hills
- Douglas Hodge
- Katherine Jakeways
- Miles Jupp
- Sam Kelly
- Caroline Langrishe
- Lee Mack
- Alex Macqueen
- Ruth Madeley
- Felicity Montagu
- Cliff Parisi
- Nigel Pegram
- Lucy Porter
- Olivia Poulet
- Vineeta Rishi
- Abdul Salis
- John Sessions
- Harry Shearer
- Mark Spalding
- Sophie Stanton
- Rhashan Stone
- Ellen Thomas
- Pip Torrens
- Martin Trenaman
- Eros Vlahos
- Katy Wix
- Sarah Woodward
- Matilda Ziegler
Ages of the Children in Each Series
This table shows how old Jake, Ben, and Karen were in each series and special episode.
| Series | Jake | Ben | Karen |
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| 1 | Year 7, age 11 | Year 3, age 7 | Year 1, age 5 |
| 2 | Year 8, age 12 | Year 4, age 8 | Year 2, age 6 |
| 2009 Christmas Special | Year 9, age 13 | Year 5, age 9 | Year 3, age 7 |
| 3 | Year 9, age 13 | Year 5, age 9 | Year 3, age 7 |
| 4 | Year 11, age 15 | Year 7, age 11 | Year 5, age 9 |
| 2011 Christmas Special | Year 11, age 15 | Year 7, age 11 | Year 5, age 9 |
| 2012 Christmas Special | Year 12, age 16 | Year 8, age 12 | Year 6, age 10 |
| 5 | Year 13, age 17 | Year 9, age 13 | Year 7, age 11 |
| 2016 Christmas Special | age 20 | Year 12, age 17 | Year 10, age 15 |
DVD Releases
All five series and the three Christmas specials of Outnumbered are available on DVD. Some of the special Comic Relief and Sport Relief episodes are included on the DVDs for the main series. These DVDs were published by 2 Entertain.
