Outnumbered Xmas special

[Rollergirl11]

BBC1 9:40 pm. Who’s watching?!

I enjoyed it, watched this series from the start. As a family, we thought it very realistic. We are in the age group of Sue and Pete, so totally get how life can be.

We have 3 adult children and grandchildren. Our children are not the same as 20 years or more ago. I appreciate they have casted the same actors. Really good, clever writing.

I thought it was awful. Not in the least bit funny, terrible acting and really cringy in parts. Terrible decision to include the annoying, unfunny Jane. Would definitely have been improved by lots more grandchildren to bring back some of the charm of the original series which I loved. I struggled to watch to the end and wish I hadn’t bothered.

@samarrange I'm sure it was a figure of speech and the poster wasn't setting up a video recorder. Also please remember many people on here are not in the UK so therefore they will set it up to record on sky or whatever they use as they won't have iplayer.

What? I did not know that!

Thought it was very low energy. Though it was never going to be the same as the orgonsl.

Ben was definitely the best of it all!!

I've just got a tiny 1 terabyte hard drive attached to my TV. No faff, just plug one into the other using a USB cable.

I sometimes use it to record movies that won't be on iPlayer for ever, but mostly just use it to pause live TV when the doorbell rings, rewind to see something I missed or to pause live shows with adverts so you can start watching later and skip through them.

I quite enjoyed it, and found it quietly funny.

I would have preferred Angela than Jane also, and wondered if the script was written with Angela in mind.

I thought the scenes where Hugh was being a grandad were quite sweet.

Just watched it. Absolute shite. The friend character is awful. Actually it was all awful.

Just come back to this thread and saw you @ me 🤣 I’m late 20s but still just say tape out of habit because that’s what we always said growing up. I just hit the record button on our remote, that’s all I meant.

Back to the show… was nostalgic to see them again but that was about it really. Jake went to bed, Ben was stuck in traffic, it was really just the mum & dad going back and forth. I feel like they tried to fit too many ‘relatable/our house is like that too!’ moments into 45 mins - cancer, packages from neighbours, mad grandchild, child going backpacking, dinner ruined, mums saddo friend that everyone laughs at. I also agree with whoever said that the kids reactions weren’t really realistic, I thought Karen just came off rude and cold asking had he considered other options beside the op because she had ‘googled’.

The addition of the grandchild and Jake’s partner was the worst I thought. The granddaughter was irritating.

What a load of rubbish that was. Ben and jake should have had a bunch of unruly children between them descend on the parents for xmas, and have plenty of the unscripted interactions they used to have, to show that it's gone full circle and Pete and Sue could stand back and laugh at their kids now having to raise children that were as crazy as they were. I didn't actually mind jane - yes she's annoying but that's the point of her character and her little speech when she finally leaves was the only vaguely amusing bit for me. The rest of it was shite.

What an utter disaster!

I enjoyed it as much as the originals. It’s never been raucously funny but amusing and heartwarming. I liked how everyone turned out and thought the little daughter was adorable.

I have been thinking of so many ways the story could have been improved through the day. It had solid foundations and there was time and scope to be creative.
I don't understand why none of the script writers, actors, directors, support members etc. didn't look up and say this is rubbish let's add in some humour!

It was ok.

It would have been better if they were still in their old house so at least it looked right.

As someone who back in the day recognised that as my family as did my children, it was absolutely shocking!
They should be ashamed what a disappointment

Watched it again tonight (ok, this morning) and it struck me that the "nightmare" was the only person who grew.

Parents were still them. Jake was still him. Karen still her. Ben has grown. Become a thoughtful loving man who has, ironically, become the father of the family.

When the shit all falls apart, who will they call? Ben

Thats why I love Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins work. It isnt alway feel good, but it always true to life. And in this case its that the black sheep isnt actually the black sheep.

@Zonder the old house was put on the market a few years ago, maybe new owners didn’t want the house to be used

The jokes that were true to life were funny, but slow to come and over worked.

Cancelling the kids mobile phone contracts - just done this for DS aged 26!
Trying to organise a family Christmas well before the day - done this!
Amazon deliveries for the neighbours - we've all done this. But it went on too long.
Rail replacement bus - yes, funny because when it happens it's so annoying - but I thought they lived in London so surely there would be numerous alternative travel options for Ben.

Was distracted by how awful Sue's hair was - was it supposed to look so bad? And agree, Jake was overmade up - yes he's supposed to be tired but he looked at death's door. This would have been more realistic if they had a new baby not a 3 year old. I liked Ben though, and enjoyed how he is now the mature one. In general though, wish they had just left the memories of the earlier series when it was genuinely funny.

I thought it was very disappointing. Good to catch up with the family but the humour of the yester-series improvisation with the 'children' was missing, and that let down the whole premise of the episode.

Almost certainly. I’ve looked over the last few days at the details of the houses in Gavin and Stacey. It mentions in the details that they have been used but also says that you don’t have to agree to it. It’s a lot to take on having a film crew in the house. In the making of G&S documentary they are in Pam and Mick’s house, there is huge upheaval.

@Innocentrailway I agree, Sue was made to look awful - I assume to show anxiety, but I thought it just made her look ill. Jake looked like he was on drugs. Yes newborns cause exhaustion but not a 3 year old with two parents.
There was no couple or family 'chemistry', it was like an Alevel drama group.

It’s just a ‘term of art’. We sometimes ‘tape’ stuff onto our virgin box. There’s no actual tape involved - the word’s just habit.

Our kids are roughly the same ages as the outnumbered kids so we have always watched it and found it so relatable. One of ours was very much a 'Ben' and he too has matured into a very sensible and considerate man. Whilst it was never really that funny once the kids were older it's still totally relatable and nice to see how they turned out. The feeling of wanting all your grown up babies together and wanting it to all be perfect while dealing with the constant dramas of life (both big and small) touched a nerve with me. If it wasn't gor all of the above would be saying was a load of rubbish.