Outnumbered Christmas special 2016: the kids are getting old – but the Hugh Dennis comedy is still funny

The Brockman family are still bringing the laughs - even if they're not as cute
They're back: the Brockman family return for an Outnumbered Christmas special - and they're all grown up
BBC/Hat Trick/Colin Hutton
Ben Travis26 December 2016

As BBC comedy Outnumbered continues, viewers need to keep one thing in mind: the new episodes are never going to be as funny as the early ones.

It’s a slight problem inherent in a show that once drew so many of its laughs from the semi-improvised observations of its hilarious child actors.

That said, the 2016 Christmas Special proves there’s still mileage in the Hugh Dennis comedy – it’s just that the gags are now all scripted ones from writers Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin.

Fans should be happy – it was never guaranteed that Outnumbered would be back at all, with 2014’s fifth series designed to be its last.

Outnumbered - how the kids have grown up

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But three years on, the Brockman family have returned for another spin – and you’ll still find yourself thinking, look how grown up they all are.

Karen is a full-on teenager now, FaceTiming in to a house party she’s missing out on. Jake has his first proper girlfriend in new character Kate. Ben, meanwhile, looks like he could eat you for breakfast – in real life actor Daniel Roche is a keen rugby player and it absolutely shows.

There are some chuckle-worthy contemporary nods (a Trump gag here, a ‘no mention of Brexit’ pub sign there), tied in with the usual family scrapes: the Brockmans are involved in a car crash on the way to scatter Sue’s dad’s ashes, leaving them stranded in a dingy pub on Boxing Day.

It’s not the funniest Outnumbered episode ever, but it still brings the laughs – and includes an interesting new take on its young characters.

Refreshingly Karen, Ben and Jake aren’t just gloomy teenage caricatures – Karen, while glued to her phone screen, is savvy enough to warn her parents that the other driver in the crash is trying to set them up for a big insurance pay-out. And then there’s Ben and Jake, who keep objecting to the seemingly offensive name of mechanic ‘Billy Spaz’.

Nine years after the show first aired, the kids aren’t just mischief-makers anymore – they might actually be more switched on than their parents.

“Teenagers…” sighs dad Pete. “They’re often kinda right in a black-and-white way.”

BBC One, Boxing Day, 10pm

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