An Outnumbered Christmas in 2024

03/01/2025

Poppy Sockett (she/her) reviews the awaited Christmas Special

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Image by BBC

By Poppy Sockett

Among the array of this year’s long-awaited Christmas specials was a programme that had not graced our screens since its previous stand-alone episode in 2019: that of the Brockman family in Outnumbered.

Known for its relatable, hilarious, and chaotic portrayal of family life, the series now boasts five seasons and five Christmas specials. Many of the specials, such as the first released in 2009, are largely situated in the domestic and usual environments of the Outnumbered house, exploring what happens when Pete (the Brockmans’ father) is left alone with the children and an unwanted visitor whilst his wife Sue grapples with her father who is living in a residential home. 2019’s special experimented far heavier with location, following the family with their much more grown children in the Southern countryside attempting to spread the ashes of their grandfather on Boxing Day (with much to go terribly wrong).

Now we turn to the special on Boxing Day evening. Set in a new house for the Brockmans, the premise of the episode appears relatively uncomplicated and evoking of emotion: Pete and Sue host Christmas Day (in November…) for their children whilst having to regrettably inform them of Pete’s early diagnosis of cancer. The simplicity of the episode’s description beckoned my attention more than that of 2019. This is because I think the show is done best when it relies on what made it so popular, depicting relatively normal household trials and tribulations and allowing the family’s characters and awful luck to pave the way for entertainment.

However, I found even with such a seemingly undemanding premise, the special missed the mark for its usual standard. Jake is excitedly now married with a child, introduced by his noticeable tiredness and arguments with his wife over the phone, we get glimpses into Karen’s current life in mentions of protesting and an ex-girlfriend, and Ben seems his usual self on what becomes a crusade to get back to the house from the train station. Despite these plays to inform the audience on the updated lives of these beloved characters, I found the insertion of these descriptions to feel rushed, fleeting, and lacking in detail, especially when learning about where the children are feels it should take precedent when it is their young-aged selves that drew in such an audience while the show was debuting.

A returning character from the series, Jane, appeared again in the special. Whilst the long-running annoyance of her inability to detect an expired welcome into the house somewhat sparked sentimentality, her character claimed screen time almost on-par with some of the children; time that may have been better-spent giving the audience what they excitedly awaited.

The 42-minute special certainly had its moments of reminding us of its initial and lengthy appeal, mainly the more natural comedic moments that arose from the family of five being together in the kitchen lounge of the house, as well as some staples returning: Pete’s dinosaur impression, Ben’s super-human strength, or Karen’s unwavering and blistering honesty, sparked some laughs as the episode continued. The looming diagnosis conversation also did well to add weight and ageing complexity to its duration; the reminder that these characters operate just as any family sat at home do in facing health worries and emotional decisions, worked as a subtle tear-jerker throughout.

Overall, the special contained many sporadic, sentimental and laugh-worthy moments, mainly coming from what we remember of the series or events of a similar tone. Where I feel the episode was slightly let down was in the lack of consistency for these moments, and an inappropriate allocation of screen time. Outnumbered reached such popularity due to the brilliantly written children, which was perhaps over-relied upon,but it's worth a watch just to see what the youngsters are up to and look like, especially during the festive period. Although, time might be better spent seeing the series in its prime, alongside earlier Christmas specials.