outnumbered is back tonight - final series - they're all grown up!

[nipersvest]

here i know its not everyones cup of tea but we like it.

Nipers, I winced at the autism and the allergies bit, but took that line to mean 'less popular than a knife-twisting little madam like Esme'.

Ben's vast confidence about his audition and his parents' alarmed attempts to let him down gently about his performing ability went a bit too near the bone here!

The joke that made my autistic son laugh the longest and loudest was the one about the autistic computer. He literally fell off the sofa he was laughing so much.

Which is a shame considering I'm going to marry Hugh Dennis when I manage to find him

He lives fairly near me and has apparently been spotted in our village Co-Op and Indian Restaurant !

No idea why this was not on in Wales - didn't miss much by reading this thread though. Wanted to say that yes, 6th formers do wear a uniform - mine does, its just a different colour polo top and jumper than the rest of the school but we still have to trek to the uniform shop and buy it - so here in Wales, they do wear uniform in 6th form.

Hugh Dennis and his wife used to come into a shop I worked in,his wife is lovely but he was very quiet and wouldn't make eye contact with anyone.
Still like him though

I always wonder what it must be like to be famous and recognised by everyone. Suppose you have to develop a way of coping - maybe his was to just keep quiet and not be noticed. I saw someone famous on a train once and he had his head in a book and he looked up and our eyes met and I said quietly "don't worry I'm not going to ask for your autograph" and he gave me a wry grin and went back to the book. I think a lot of people say "Are you XYorZ" and this must be annoying.

Used to love Outnumbered. Didn't laugh at this one once, though I smiled a couple of times.

I thought the autism joke was off too.

I loved it

Loved all the angst about sending Karen off to an academic school and her struggling where she hadn't before, found it all very true to life. I thought she looked exactly the same just bigger with darker hair.

How the fuck did a 17 year old get a tattoo? Ask my niece, fake ID's are involved and Jake has one it was mentioned in the last series

Hope Jane the annoying friends makes an appearance in this series
I missed the autism comment.

I really enjoyed it, especially the dialogue between the mum and dad :)

Tyger looks so 80s, very Aha! There are going to be some serious teenage crushes!

jake had a look of Tom Daley about him I thought.
part of the appeal when they were younger was the ad libbing, but now i imagine they would be far too aware. so the humour seems to be with the adults. they said it was the last, so maybe they made it and realsied it wasnt that funny.

We thought it was very funny. But teenage dd is same age as Ben so can identify more with having children at secondary school.
Loved the bit where mum was emailing the teachers and the other parents after midnight. Am convinced that she must be a Mumsnetter too.
The series will probably end with Jake's 18th birthday - then the adults outnumber the children!

The kids were on the One Show last week before the programme and "Jake" is actually 18, so that would be how he got the tattoo, or it could have been one that was removable. It was interesting because "Ben" was thoroughly enjoying himself and lapping up the attention and "Jake" was fine with it, but poor "Karen" was embarrassed and squirmed when the attention was on her and she was hiding beneath a fringe like young teenagers do. Sorry I think I already posted this - ah well - will leave it now.

I didn't enjoy the show at all really but loved it when the kids were young especially "Karen" who always had something on her mind and "Ben" and his antics. I never found "Jake" very amusing. Will watch again though.

Maybe you have to be a parent with school age kids but I don't find this funny or at all relatable. It's just so insular and predictable but it has a certain cosy appeal I like.

I hope the characters of Pete's depressed mother and Jane the ditzy neighbour return - now there's two characters I do identify with .

When I find Hugh Dennis...this Thursday he's going to be a few feet away going to see him and Steve Punt on tour!

I agree with LucyLasticBand - the appeal for me was always the ad libbing. Now the child actors are older they're presumably given lines to read rather than an outline of a scene.

I still enjoyed watching it, but I'd had an exhausting, stressful day so might have been equally happy watching anything!

I'm quite looking forward to it tonight but don't think anything will beat the scene about Ben in the toy shop when he protests that his dad isn't his dad, and he's not called Ben! Or Karen's nit farm!

Does anyone else think that Karen talks much more 'posh' than everyone else?

Agree with crazy that Sue must be a MNer .

We are all thoroughly enjoying this series.DC are similar ages to the ones in the show, so we sit and watch it together, laughing and swapping knowing grins.

As another poster said, Karen looks too old to be year 7. I think she is 13 IRL so the difference between her real age and Karen's age really shows. I think they left it too long to make this series, the humour has gone.

mileysorearse I've seen kids in Y6 at various points since my kids have started school who, had I not know they were only Y6, I would have sworn were 13 or 14, so Karen is pretty convincing as an 11 or 12 year old to me.

I have boys so I was comparing her to girls I know. They definitely don't look so grown-up or act so self assured but they can't be representative if Karen is the norm.

There are girls in the current year 6 who wouldn't look out of place in a year 2 class, although none which look 14. However, I think this year is an exception in not having any which look older than 12 at most.

And I think if you're talking about Karen, hasn't she always been rather self-assured? :)

My 13 yr old dd looks about 9 years old, however her best friend who is still 12 yr old is 5 ft 10. She towers over me and would pass for 16 yr old... Until she opens her mouth! When you hear her talk, you can hear the immaturity in her voice and she still wants to make butterfly mobiles and bake cakes.
When dd and best friend our out together it looks like she is a teenager with her little sister in tow... Until dd opens her mouth... Then you hear the stroppiness and mature vocabulary that a 9 yr old would not use.

Karen, bless her, is tall, moody, but still a little girl who is obsessed by a hamster's well being not boys... Yet.

12 yr olds come in all shapes and sizes and have different life experiences, that is why some are pregnant at 12!

There are definitely girls in DD's Y7 who look a fair bit older, as well as some who look younger too. When dressed up lots of them look a couple of yers or so older too.

It can be scary being mum to an 11yo on that score!

Loved the Mumsnet mention tonight. I knew Sue was on here .

Really enjoyed it tonight, I know the jokes are obvious but sometimes I like that!