Totally Outnumbered

Outnumbered
Season 3
(2010)

4 Stars

BBC comedy of late has been somewhat hit and miss. Indeed, for the most part, anything that has been on that delightful bastard child of the BEEB that is BBC3 is pretty much routinely awful.

One show that has continued to deliver top notch giggles over the last few years, however, is the charmingly under-rated semi-improvised piece of genius that is Outnumbered. Following the everyday happenings of a suburban English family, Outnumbered brings to the screen the surreal realism of life with three overly active kids.

Through the first two seasons of the show, we grew to love the exploits of the children; world weary teen Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey... One of the strangest names of all time), hyperactive Ben (Daniel Roche) and, by far the most enchanting of the three, ever-curious Karen, played with amazing poise by the tiny Ramona Marquez. Meanwhile, parents Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner do their best to stay sane in an increasingly crazed household.

I finally caught up with the third season of the show this weekend, having found myself at a loss for something to watch, and thence remembering that I was somewhat behind in my Britcoms. Thankfully, despite murmurs that this season had been something of a letdown, I found myself pleasantly delighted at every turn. True, now that the kids are starting to grow up, they have lost a few of their quirks, but the writers have adapted to this well, throwing Jake into his early teens brilliantly, as well as finding Ben a new talent in his chess playing. Even Karen, despite being a more grown up seven now, as opposed to the mere four when the show started, has become worldly and cynical, questioning politics and philosophy as only a child can.

One interesting aspect to this year’s run is that of continuity; as opposed to previous years, when each episode has stood as a standalone story, this year’s six-pack has seen a continuing story throughout, thus developing the characters more than the simple situation would normally allow. As such, the spiralling issue of Grandma’s gambling addiction is much more poignant, and the eventual admission of Jake’s lust for their nubile neighbour is painfully hilarious.

I’m not sure what the future holds for Outnumbered; perhaps in a few years, when the kids all reach their teens, some of the charm will be lost, but for now at least, this remains one of the finest comedies of British TV. May chaos continue to reign.