Outnumbered Renewed for a Fifth Series and Christmas Special
The comedy’s fourth series was rumored to have been its last, given the fact that its child stars are rapidly growing up. However, Outnumbered will return for a Christmas special later this year, followed by a full six-episode run sometime in late 2013.
The series stars Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner as two stressed-out parents who are often overwhelmed by the chaos caused by their three children. The series is known for its semi-improvised scripts, most particularly the bulk of the parts of its three child stars Tyger Drew-Honey, Ramona Marquez and Daniel Rouche. Ostensibly this move was meant to get more realistic performances from the child actors, and, to be fair, it has generally worked a treat. Though, this style is probably the main reason that Outnumbered is certainly one of those series that you either love or you hate, almost instantly.
Tyger Drew-Honey, who plays eldest child Jake, will be 17 when the series starts filming next year. The young actor had previously speculated that he didn’t think the comedy would go much further than a fifth series, if that, because it will lose some of the “madness” that comes naturally to a show centered around the children’s school lives. To be honest, I sort of agree, and am hopeful this fifth series will be an opportunity to wrap things up and give the show the proper send-off it deserves.
Outnumbered won Best Comedy at this year’s National Television Awards, and has also scored prizes from the Royal Television Society and British Comedy Awards. It was the 16th most popular program on BBC One last year.
We’re currently airing Outnumbered Fridays on WETA UK, if you’ve never seen this series before. While it’s the sort of show that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea – I think it’s rather hilarious and worth giving a try, if you haven’t yet.
