For a show based on sarcastic back-chat, this last-ever episode turns the tables with a Disney-style finale. Karen's even offering tea and biscuits when dodgy Auntie Angela (Samantha Bond) turns up with her latest toy boy. But how will Spartacus: The Musical go for Ben? And what about the search for Tommy the hamster? Claire Skinner, Hugh Dennis and the kids - Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche, Ramona Marquez - make a surprisingly sentimental exit.

We've been dreading this day, the day when we finally have to cut the apron strings and let go of the kids from Outnumbered. Sorry, we thought we'd be able to stay strong but it's just too... *dabs eyes with hankie*

Yes, after five series, the show's child stars Tyger Drew-Honey (Jake), Daniel Roche (Ben) and Ramona Marquez (Karen) are starting to dwarf their on-screen parents Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, meaning it's time to bring the beloved BBC sitcom to an end. In this final episode, Auntie Angela (Samantha Bond) returns to show off her latest toy boy, there's a cringeworthy performance of the school play, Spartacus: The Musical, and, most shockingly of all, there are signs that the Brockman kids might actually have turned out... alright?!

One of the biggest problems with TV sitcoms centring on families is what to do when the child actors get older. This is particularly problematic with a show like Outnumbered, which returned for a fifth and final series this week, primarily because the comedy relied on the innocence and naivety of the kids. Almost seven years on, the children are looking incredibly old most noticeably Ramona Marquez who started playing Karen when she was only five. Now twelve years old, Marquez's Karen was the centre of the action this week as parents Pete (Hugh Dennis) and Sue (Claire Skinner) worried that she was fitting in at her new challenging school. To an extent I feel that writers Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin have updated the character well as she has now entered her stroppy pre-teen phase. She is a lot sulkier and I was shocked when I actually heard a swear word come out of her mouth. The school that Karen has been sent to has a very strict dress code and Karen is finding some of the work incredibly hard. She's also not fitting in all that well, as we see when she is forced to spend time with her one of her classmates after school. Karen's problems at school lead the ever-worried Sue to send out a late night e-mail to the parents of her daughter's classmates asking if they've had similar problems. The responses she receives are fairly shocking, prompting Pete to tell her that sending any e-mails after 11pm is a bad mistake. Whilst Karen's problems at school ring true, I was less interested in her search for a missing hamster. It just seemed to me like this story was something that Karen would've done while she's younger and I fail to believe that this new sulky brunette girl would be that bothered about a pet.

Elsewhere Karen's two brothers are more ill-served by the storylines especially Ben (Daniel Roche) who is auditioning for the school play. The character of Ben was great when he was a destructive young lad but as a teenager he seems to be a little lost. Though the thought of him playing the lead in a musical version of Spartacus did raise a few chuckles, this was the least realistic of the three plots. I did feel that there was more truth in the antics of older son Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) who this week got a dodgy tattoo. This was a rite-of-passage story that a lot of teenagers have experienced and the fact that Jake wanted to remove the body art by the end of the episode was also incredibly realistic. Indeed, one thing that Hamilton and Jenkin have always excelled at is making their comedy feel as believable as possible. That's why Outnumbered worked so well when it started and why, for the most part, it still survives in 2014. Jake and Karen's story suited their progression and Pete and Sue continued to be the stereotypical fretting parents. The main thing I found about this series of Outnumbered, as compared to previous outings, is that I didn't laugh as much. While there were a few chuckles and a couple of titters I mostly felt that the comedy was well-observed but didn't find it funny enough to laugh out loud. Despite this I still found a lot to like about Outnumbered and feel that the chemistry between the five actors is still as fine as it was seven years ago. My only hope is that the Brockman family is given a fitting send-off and Outnumbered gets a suitably anarchic final series.

Locating a hamster under the floorboards is just one among the parental crises tackled by Sue and Pete (Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis) as they return for a fifth - and final - series of the sitcom that makes a virtue out of being out-manoeuvred by your offspring. The kids are no longer cute youngsters, their barbed teenage backchat more sullen than sparky. Except for the now strapping Ben (Daniel Roche), who has high hopes of landing a part in his school's production of Spartacus: The Musical.

The Brockman children are growing up fast

Ramona Marquez is almost unrecognisable with her new straight, dark haircut; Daniel Roche, 14, seems to have grown three foot since the last series and has a deep, booming voice; while Tyger Drew-Honey, 17, has left school and drives a car.

My secret life: Daniel Roche, 12, actor

'Kids my age think they should rebel'.

Video: The cast and writer of Outnumbered on Christmas

The chaotic Brockman family from the hit comedy series Outnumbered are back for a festive special this weekend.

They've decided to go away for Christmas, but as per usual it's not exactly stress-free.

Two of the stars of the series, Tyger Drew-Honey and Daniel Roche, joined the show's writer Andy Hamilton on the BBC Breakfast sofa to talk about Christmas in the Brockman household.

Tonight in the semi-improvised family sitcom, another guest arrives to stay, just as the Brockmans are trying to get rid of Auntie Angela (Samantha Bond). Mother Sue (Claire Skinner) has to make a decision about the girlfriend of eldest son Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey). Meanwhile, stars of the show Ben and Karen (Daniel Roche and Ramona Marquez) discuss dreams, the Mafia and trampolining bears. As one does. This is the last in the series but fans shouldn't despair - the Brockmans will be back for a Christmas special.

There are points in a good episode when Outnumbered picks up enough farcical momentum to snowball into something glorious. Tonight it happens when three storylines intertwine. Revealing what two of them are would spoil things, but the third and funniest involves Ben trying to work out an act for his school talent contest.

Should he try sword swallowing? Or singing? (Daniel Roche does a fine Louis Armstrong.) Perhaps he should juggle lobsters and crabs? Or conduct a choir of parrots? The idea Ben finally settles on sends Roche off on a minor tour de force with some lovely old-school gags and comedy business that's all his own.

"What the hell has happened in this toilet, it's like a urine tsunami," cries Sue (Claire Skinner), prompting tonight's male/female divide in the Brockman household. The girls hit the shops while the men are forced to tackle household chores. Ben (Daniel Roche) concocts a Heston Blumenthal-style dinner with dire consequences. Meanwhile Karen (Ramona Marquez) has her eye on a pair of leopard-print heels. Now in its fourth series, this acclaimed sitcom still has legs. But as the kids get older, their growing self-awareness strains the programme's naturalistic style.