FlindersRanger As a parent, I see bits of the raising of my own children - and now my grandchildren! - in this terrific show. The fact it's partly improvised, lend heaps of cred to this great comedy. As an Aussie, I've always loved British comedy; they're the best at it, and this one is right up there with the cream of the crop!

Paul Evans Outnumbered is surely one of the best Britcoms of the last few years, it's truly original, funny, and wonderfully true to life. We see The Brockman family literally grow up, the kids, who are undoubtedly the stars of the show each provide constant laughs, I understand that lots of the lines, particularly from the earlier years were off the cuff, the kids, together with the wonderful Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner were allowed to be natural, it's that partial lack of scripting that makes the show so funny, most shows are so well polished and so precise, this brand of humour was truly refreshing. The show seemed so real, so relevant, everyday life occurences, small tribulations, but wasn't afraid to talk about things like weight issues, bullying, morals, but in a way that didn't preach to its audience. A much loved show.

Azlan Lewis I can't believe the number of 7+ star reviews this awful show is getting.This is supposed to be a comedy about two parents with three offspring."Pete" the father of the three is not only an unequipped parent he is also a teacher whom either gets fired from his job or abruptly quits, this happens two or three time through out the series. He doesn't know how to handle his own children and seems mystified about their behavior."Sue" the mother often also quits her job as well like her husband. Her voice like the daughter is often grating. Like her husband ever day seems like the kids are new to her."The Kids" all of them are annoying, None should be acting, there lines seem to be a constant of run on sentences especially for the middle and youngest child as if they never take a breath and you will want to kill them both. No matter the age the oldest is always sullen and withdrawn.The way the scripts are written it is as if they were written by two different teams, one for the adults and one of the children and then it is a surprise to the adult actors what the children will say. This show is not a comedy at all and it is difficult to watch let alone enjoy. Also it is as if they just shot this at the script reading it is not well acted by any one. The entire show is anti-climatic from beginning to end let alone enjoyable.It is no where near the caliber of "Are you being Served?", "Falty Towers", "The Good Life/Good Neighbors","Home Sweet Home", "To The Manor Born", "Agony", "Thin Blue Line", "My Hero", "Father Ted", "Bless Me Father", "Keeping Up Appearance" Just to name a few.DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS ONE.

tom.keller There have been lots of attempts to show the comic side of so called "ordinary life" but they always fall into the trap of trying to create gags, as opposed to reflecting what we all know, which is that real life often throws up comic moments if only you let it. This is exactly what the producers, writers, directors, actors have got together to do. After watching 2 episodes I thought these kids are absolutely brilliant - they are being allowed to express themselves with none of the stiffness that a script would bring about. This is especially true for the young actors but it is also true for the excellent Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis, and you can see the delight on their faces as they react to the children's spontaneity. It just shows how powerful the technique of improvised and semi-improvised filming can be, and whilst it's not a new device, I personally believe it's greatly underused. We all know about Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Woody Allen etc, and we constantly hear about great moments which ended up in a film which were the result of some spontaneous improvisation, and yet we steer away from this dangerous approach. I don't want to put writers out of a job, and in Outnumbered we can see once again the originality and creativity of Andy Hamilton's and Guy Jenkin's style, but they appreciate that they are part of a creative team which produces an end product greater than the sum of its parts. Let's use the technique more in 'adult' drama and comedy and not think that it only works where there are cute kids!A word too about the subject matter itself. It is so extraordinarily well-observed and accurate; I recognise 99% of what's going on on screen. Now I realise that this is a portrayal of one particular life style, and not all the truths are universal ones, but the fact that the choice of family is relatively specific should not lead to it being dismissed as a comedy for the chattering classes, as though that somehow negates its worth.