The Brockmans are back for Christmas, but a lot has changed since we last saw them in 2016.
We saw them briefly for this year’s BBC Children in Need, but the Brockman family are back on Boxing Day.
It’s been eight years since the last Christmas special, and the family dynamic has certainly shifted since then. For one, there’s a new addition…
Here’s the synopsis for the Outnumbered Christmas Special 2024
In a moment of adversity, Sue and Pete gather all their offspring, including one grandchild, to try to celebrate a traditional family Christmas. Their new house is smaller, the children are bigger, and within the chaos, an uninvited house guest overstays their welcome.
The children, now adults, have their own hurdles to navigate in the real world. Jake attempts to juggle working from home under the reign of an energetic three-year-old, Ben worries his parents by planning a big adventure, and Karen struggles to get by at work, where she is frustrated by the incompetence of her colleagues, and in relationships, where she is frustrated by not wholly satisfactory girlfriends.
The special reunites all the principal cast, That’s Hugh Dennis (Pete), Claire Skinner (Sue). Tyger Drew-Honey (Jake), Daniel Roche (Ben) and Ramona Marquez (Karen).
Talking to the BBC, all five responded to the question of ‘How does it feel being back together after eight years apart?’
Hugh: It’s great, feels like we’ve never been away, does it feel like that for the rest of you?
Tyger: It does feel like that for me too. We’ve all got very unique relationships with each other. Being an only child, Ramona and Daniel are the closest thing I’ve got to a brother and sister and with Hugh and Claire it’s like having a second set of parents, it’s certainly nice.
Ramona: For me it’s like being back with really good friends again who you’ve known for ages and just hanging out. It feels very natural being back together and I look forward to seeing these guys.
Claire: I was saying this morning it’s really nice relating to Tyger, Ramona and Daniel as adults, and getting to know the adult versions of them, it’s been really really nice.
Hugh: I was also thinking that if Claire and I were your actual parents I’d be thinking we’ve done a really good job.
Claire: Yes you are such lovely people.
The ‘kids’ also spoke about growing up onscreen…
Daniel: For me and Ramona we were young and didn’t really have anything to compare it to. Filming this special really made me appreciate the opportunity that Outnumbered gave us and how inextricably connected it is with our lives and I’m very grateful.
Ramona: I agree we don’t really have a point of comparison, it always felt quite normal and natural for us. Everyone on Outnumbered was always so caring and made sure we were having a good time.
Tyger: In terms of work, I consider Outnumbered to be such a great achievement and I feel privileged to have been cast in the show. It’s given me a career which I may not have realised I wanted if I hadn’t have done Outnumbered. Knowing that people love the show as much as I love making it is great and I feel very lucky.
And people recognizing them…
Tyger: I was often asked are you Jake from Outnumbered and I would say yes and they would reply ‘oh I used to watch the show’ and I’d say ’thank you so much for supporting it’. It doesn’t happen as much these days as it did back in the day but maybe after the special it’ll ramp up a bit. It does happen and when it does it’s generally a really positive response, people are excited to talk about it, which is really nice.
Daniel: With me it does happen quite a lot I guess because of the curly hair and I’ve got quite a recognisable face. Strangely enough it dipped off a bit when I was a teenager because I cut my hair very short but now when I go out I do get recognised but I’ve grown up with it and most of the time people are being very nice so it’s just some friendly interactions that you otherwise wouldn’t have.
Ramona: I always love when people say I used to watch it with my mum or my mum loves that show. That’s always my favourite thing to hear and they would then ask for a selfie to show their mum and I always say yes. I love to hear that, it’s always heartwarming, fans sharing those moments with their families.
The Brockman kids also visited itv’s This Morning sofa to talk about the upcoming special
The Outnumbered Christmas Special 2024 on 26th December at 9.40 pm on BBC One and iPlayer (where you can find the show’s entire back catalogue).