How Ben Elton almost killed Outnumbered

Outnumbered has become one of the BBC's biggest sitcom hits, but its creator has revealed that it almost didn't get made - thanks to Ben Elton.

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The Brockmans are the most convincing sitcom family since the Royles. The last episode in the latest series of Outnumbered was, as usual, perfectly pitched between exquisite gag-packed comedy and fleeting moments of unsentimental family drama.

But even when dealing with Pete's drunken indiscretion with another woman, or little Karen's road accident, writers Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin never lost sight of their comic intent. Instead, Karen expressed disappointment that dad had broken his wedding vows - "the vicar's going to be furious" - before harassing a kindly nurse with tacit threats of legal action if her jab hurt more than just "a tiny bit" as promised.

The subtly touching closing scene, in which the realistically reunited parents left hospital with a bandaged Karen, as she wittered on delightfully, said more about enduring family ties than any number of schmaltzy homilies.

Although the youngest kids in Outnumbered are exasperating, they're also unaffectedly charming and clearly far funnier and more real than any other children in sitcom history. Partly improvised by child actors Ramona Marquez and Daniel Roche, their skewed righteousness, ruthless inquisitiveness and semi-logical flights of fancy appear to be an endless source of inspired comedy. I just can't work out whether it's a good thing or not that one of the funniest comedy performers in Britain is a partially scripted nine-year-old girl.

Outnumbered just didn't do the funny business

TV review: Our reviewer was outnumbered by the number of his friends who liked sitcom Outnumbered, but they didn't change his mind...

On the box: Outnumbered

Iy can't be very often that people find themselves missing the screeching, irritating and endless chatter of unruly children. After the last episode of Outnumbered last night, however, there will no doubt be more than a few people asking just when the next series will roll along on.

Briefly distracted while arguing with another mother about the rules of swapsies, Sue blames herself for what becomes the classic parent's nightmare: their child being knocked down by a car. While six-year-old Karen is in hospital, debating with a nurse about the finer points of legal responsibility, Ben argues with his father about whether or not he is responsible for his actions. That's the secret of Outnumbered's success: the children act like adults and the adults act like children. Last in the series.

Outnumbered's spot-on portrayal of middle-class family mayhem is the very thing that can tip it towards the irritating. Over its three series, the joke has remained resolutely the same: given the right socio-economic background, precocious children will say the funniest things. And while there's always enjoyment to be had from the eccentricities of the Brockmans, there's now no escaping the faint whiff of the formulaic. In the final episode of the series, Pete (Hugh Dennis) deals with the fallout from his drunken infidelity and Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) embarrasses himself with the baby-sitter. And there's a rare moment of tenderness when Sue's (Claire Skinner) latest obsession leads to Karen (Ramona Marquez) having an accident. "I've nearly killed the kids loads more times than you have," comforts Pete.

The youngest son Ben (Daniel Roche) is in trouble at school for re-enacting the running of the bulls at Pamplona. Back in the relative safety of the home, he busies himself playing games inspired by Bear Grylls, one of which involves climbing up the north face of the wardrobe - until it is struck by an avalanche. Dad (Hugh Dennis), meanwhile, is still in the doghouse after the night of the bright green cocktails when he kissed a stranger. But all of this pales into insignificance when little Karen (Ramona Marquez) is hit by a car on the way to the school concert and rushed into hospital. Fortunately it isn't serious - just a few bumps and bruises. It's the unsuspecting nurse at the hospital you need to worry about.

The best sitcoms know how to cut through the laughs with an occasional shard of real emotion. Tonight, for the last of the series, Outnumbered pulls off the trick with an alarming plot development that may put a lump in the throat of fans - if only temporarily. Otherwise it's the usual domestic knockabout, with young Ben on especially good form. He and his friend Ibrahim are in trouble for re-enacting the running of the bulls at Pamplona, with unhappy consequences, and in the course of the episode we also get Ben's characteristic take on The Da Vinci Code, a brilliant speech on rising sea levels and a line no parent wants to hear from a nine-year-old: "Has anyone got anything I can use as a grappling hook?" Meanwhile, Sue is still angry about Pete's drunken indiscretion - and so is Karen: "You broke your wedding promises," she sighs. "The vicar is going to be furious..." Ah, we'll miss them while they're off our screens. Let's hope series four isn't long in coming.