History Series / Outnumbered

'''Pete:''' ''(hopeful)'' Yeah, OK. ''(looks closer, becomes despondent)'' Oh no, he's one of those toy policemen, well he'll only give us a leaflet. [[note]]An apparent reference to Police Community Support Officers - uniformed Police Staff who support Police Officers with community engagement. They have been historically referred to as 'plastic policeman' because they do not have powers of arrest like Police Officers. PCSOs often support 'softer' methods of policing but are actually essential to identifying problems in neighbourhoods, generating intelligence and improving community relations. At the time of the episode airing, their role was not well understood and they were often the subject of jokes.[[/note]]

'''Pete:''' ''(hopeful)'' Yeah, OK. ''(looks closer, becomes despondent)'' Oh no, he's one of those toy policemen, well he'll only give us a leaflet. [[note]]An apparent reference to Police Community Support Officers, unpaid volunteer police staff in the UK often mocked as 'plastic policemen' for their supposed inability to contribute in the heat of the moment.[[/note]]

** There are more than a few ''Series/DoctorWho'' references. Claire Skinner (Sue) had a guest role in the 2011 Christmas special for that year, while David Troughton (Mr Hunslet) had a guest role in the episode "Midnight" (as well as being the son of Creator/PatrickTroughton, the Second Doctor). ''Outnumbered'' also featured Silas Carson (Ravi), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Ray), Rebecca Front (Karen's headteacher) and John Sessions (the vicar at Bob's funeral), both of whom had various roles in the show's post-2005 revival. Finally, Samantha Bond (Angela) had a role as a villain in ''Doctor Who'' spin-off ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', while guest star Katy Wix also appeared in ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth''.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: The Series 5 episodes and the 2016 Christmas Special as follows:
** "The Tattoo" (aka "Rites of Passage" or "The Hamster")
** "The Pool" (aka "K For Victory" or "The Swimming Competition" or "The Pedophile")
** "The Baby" (aka "House Of Hormones" or "The Goddaughter")
** "The Birthday" (aka "Into The Wilderness" or "The Gap Year")
** "The Phone" (aka "Communication Skills" or "The Chinese Horde")
** "The Musical" (aka "Spartacus The Musical")
** "Christmas Special" (aka "Boxing Day Special")
*** "The Cold Caller: Part 2" is an alternative title for Series 4's "The Exchange Student".

* AwesomeMccoolname:
** Jake is played by ''Tyger'' Drew-Honey.
** Karen is played by Ramona Marquez.

* {{Corpsing}}: This occurs a few times during the show, considering that it's semi-improvised. One notable example had Ben laughing over the suggestion of ''WesternAnimation/WatchMyChops'' to prove that TV is educational, and [[ThrowItIn Pete stays in character mentioning that he doesn't find it funny]].

* CannotTellFictionFromReality: Otto, the exchange student, thinks that UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson is a character played by a comedian.

[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outnumbered_3051.jpeg The Brockman Family. From left to right: Ben, Jake, Karen, Sue and Pete]]

[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outnumbered_3051.jpeg]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Despite being a complete JerkAss about it, Karen's Headmistress ends up being the one to bring an end to Karen's behaviour in Series 5.

** In series 4 when the Brockmans attend the funeral of an uncle.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: This is a recurring theme with the Series 5 episodes and the 2016 Christmas Special.

** Sue's boss. Veronica, in series 1, was replaced by Tyson for series 2.

* HourglassPlot: Jake and Ben have shades of this. At the beginning of the series, Jake is the serious, geeky older brother who is much closer to his parents, while Ben is the loud, thoughtless tearaway. As the series continues, Jake becomes a lot 'cooler' and distances himself from his family, while Ben embraces his geekier side and is a lot more affectionate.

** On a slightly less serious note, the headmaster of the school Pete used to teach at. Blames Pete for doctoring a prospectus to make the school look better and lets him take the fall for it (though to be fair he did doctor it ''but under the headmaster's orders'').

** In the earlier stories, Karen also drew pictures which qualify. For example: a cow...which has escaped captivity because it didn't want to be eaten, and is now murdering all the burger-eaters...

** Sue's bosses. Veronica, in series 1, was replaced by Tyson for series 2.

** Karen's headmaster is a ''massive'' one, channelling [[Literature/{{Matilda}} The Trunchbull]] (ironic, given how she was ranting about how she hates Creator/RoaldDahl) by essentially telling Karen that she's nothing special and that she's a stupid little girl for thinking otherwise. Whether you think the speech was needed for Karen to [[TookALevelInKindness Take A Level In Kindness]] or not, it was still incredibly nasty and not at all something anyone in charge of children should do.

* Pete (Hugh Dennis) - father, a teacher.

* LethalChef: Ben. It didn't help he was trying to copy Esther Rantzen, and then settled on Heston Blumenthal, an English "molecular gastronomist".

* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted. The characters have aged appropriately (Jake is now 22, and accepting a job in New Zealand, Ben is now 18 and built like a footballer and Karen is now 15). Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin both joked it had happened in an interview stating [[BlatantLies that everything was true]].

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Jake's reaction to Ben's story about Ibrahim getting mugged.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Archie the Dog does seem rather playful when the family look after him on behalf of some friends of theirs, if a bit reluctant to go to his bed. [[spoiler:Then Sue and Pete let him out the back garden; he goes into a garden next door and breaks into a guinea pig hutch, killing all the guinea pigs. After being told of this, Pete coins the nickname "Psycho Lassie" for Archie.]] Thankfully, this is offscreen.