The BEST episodes of Outnumbered

Every episode of Outnumbered ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Outnumbered!

Outnumbered is about a family living in South London, where the parents are "Outnumbered" by their three children. The parents constantly try to keep their children under control, but completely fail to do so. The father, Pete, works at an inner city school as a history teacher, whereas mother, Sue, is a part-time PA. The three children are eleven-year-old Jake who worries about everything, from worrying about starting at his new school to the world being sucked into a black hole, seven-year-old Ben who constantly lies to his parents and always wants to watch Little Britain, and five-year-old Karen who constantly asks too many questions.

Last Updated: 1/18/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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The Airport
star
8.34
158 votes

#1 - The Airport

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/6/2008

Pete and Sue find themselves in every parent's ultimate nightmare - trapped in a foreign airport with three bored young children (and an increasingly bewildered Grandad). Six-year-old Karen grills her Dad about al-Qaeda, and security staff grill eight-year-old Ben about the worrying objects in his bag. How many hours will it take them all to run the gauntlet of delays, security checks and endless games of I-Spy? How many times will they lose Grandad? Will they end up in Guantanamo Bay? Will Ben find the Spanish for "Can I play with your machine gun?" and what idiot let the kids drink double espressos?

The Family Outing
star
8.26
188 votes

#2 - The Family Outing

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/8/2010

Gran takes the Brockman family for a day's sightseeing in London. Karen is unimpressed with modern art, Jake suffers serious trauma when he is unable to text, and one of the family uses a visit to HMS Belfast for a brief re-enactment of World War II.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Cold Caller (1)
star
8.23
203 votes

#3 - The Cold Caller (1)

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/30/2011

Mum is still convinced Jake has a secret. Ben is determined to enter a school talent competition with an unusual double act. Then a couple of surprise callers make life more difficult than usual for the family.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Long Night
star
8.05
129 votes

#4 - The Long Night

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/27/2008

The semi-improvised sitcom continues as a thunderstorm brings night-time chaos to the Brockman family. Ben wants to go out and dodge the lightning, while Karen is writing to the Prime Minister, asking him to fire her teacher. Jake is being manipulated by his girlfriend, the couple next door are hurling abuse at each other, and Mum has received some shocking news. None shall sleep. And morning brings a policeman to their door.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Old Fashioned Sunday
star
8.05
133 votes

#5 - The Old Fashioned Sunday

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/29/2008

Sue and Pete ban TV as they attempt to have a traditonal family Sunday playing games like hide-and-seek, Pelmanism and scissors, paper, velociraptor, but matters are complicated when Grandad comes to stay after he suffers an accident involving a tin of baked beans. Later, Pete worries about teaching sex education, Karen plays the recorder, and Ben's headmaster suggests that he should take a few days off school.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Football Match
star
8.03
151 votes

#6 - The Football Match

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/20/2008

Yet more chaos for the Brockman family as six-year-old Karen denounces Satan and Ben gets on the wrong side of a no-nonsense referee. Meanwhile, Dad is asked to 'sex up' an official document and Mum's competition with her impossibly perfect neighbour reaches a sticky conclusion. But most worrying of all, there is Grandad's fate to be decided.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Exchange Student (2)
star
8.00
178 votes

#7 - The Exchange Student (2)

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/7/2011

As the family tries to get rid of Auntie Angela, another guest arrives to stay. Mum has to decide what to do about Jake's girlfriend. Ben and Karen discuss dreams, the Mafia and trampolining bears.

The Tennis Match
star
7.99
241 votes

#8 - The Tennis Match

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/22/2010

Karen recreates Britain's Got Talent, Ben takes a close interest in Dad's medical tests, Mum thinks Jake's healthy interest in girls is becoming unhealthy, and the ghost of John McEnroe hovers over Dad's Saturday morning game of tennis. Karen decides to sort things out.

The Gap Year
star
7.91
77 votes

#9 - The Gap Year

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/19/2014

Dad and Ben go on a winter camping trip, where Ben shows off his survival skills. Jake has to decide about a gap year, and Mum has had enough of Australian god-daughter Stacey staying.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Night Out
star
7.89
184 votes

#10 - The Night Out

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/13/2008

A Croatian babysitter has a night to remember when Mum and Dad manage to escape for a meal together. Meanwhile, Ben gets thrown out of his sister's pretend restaurant, and Jake gets advice from Grandad on why he should not invade Russia. And a big decision is looming about Grandad's future, but who is going to tell him?

Watch Now:Amazon
The Hospital
star
7.89
152 votes

#11 - The Hospital

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/20/2010

Mum and Dad struggle to put things right between them, but Karen is unimpressed by their behaviour. She is worried by her vital role in the school concert, while Ben is busy recreating the assault on Everest on the stairs. But then there is a major panic about one of the children...

Watch Now:Amazon
The Labrador
star
7.85
178 votes

#12 - The Labrador

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/16/2011

Karen is on a sleep-over and Ben is away at adventure camp. Mum and Dad are left with a Labrador to look after and a glimpse of what life will be like once the children have left home.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Restaurant
star
7.81
154 votes

#13 - The Restaurant

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/13/2010

The last time Mum's sister Auntie Angela came to visit, it all ended in disaster. Now she is back to show off the American therapist she has married. Dad is determined to avoid a major incident as they all go out to dinner. Ben tells everyone about his sex education class, Karen puts Auntie Angela's husband straight on therapy, but then there is a bigger problem between Mum and Dad.

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The Internet
star
7.80
155 votes

#14 - The Internet

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/15/2010

When Mum finds an inappropriate image on the family computer, an investigation begins. Gran is still staying, and Dad is horrified at the thought of having a heart-to-heart with her. Meanwhile, the ancient game of chess will never be quite the same again after Ben brings his own special talents to it.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Musical
star
7.74
104 votes

#15 - The Musical

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/5/2014

Stacey is back, Ben has a crisis of confidence over his starring role in Spartacus The Musical and Karen still hopes her escaped hamster will be found. Auntie Angela returns.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Dead Mouse
star
7.70
142 votes

#16 - The Dead Mouse

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/22/2008

Karen mourns the death of a mouse killed by her parents while also getting into the habit of swearing, Ben uses some devious tactics when he stands for election as class rep and Jake causes Sue to worry when he brings home a girl for tea. Meanwhile, Pete and Sue have to worry about money, chest pains, a friend is using them as a glorified babysitting service and the the superior mother next door.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Parents Evening
star
7.64
207 votes

#17 - The Parents Evening

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/23/2011

There is a lot to discuss at Ben's parents' evening including muggers, dangerous chemicals and re-enactments of the Great Plague. Mum is still suspicious Jake is hiding something and Karen decides which of the world's great religions to lead.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Girls' Day Out
star
7.64
157 votes

#18 - The Girls' Day Out

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/9/2011

Mum has enough of the boys' attitude to housework so sets out on a campaign to civilise them. Karen battles with chuggers and buying shoes, while Dad goes to war with a domestic appliance.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Wedding
star
7.62
169 votes

#19 - The Wedding

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/15/2008

Cousin Julie is getting married. However, trouble comes when "Executive bridesmaid" Karen asks her troubling questions about her previous boyfriends, and Ben asks the vicar complex theological questions involving the baby Jesus and lasers.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Dinner Party
star
7.60
170 votes

#20 - The Dinner Party

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/5/2007

Five-year-old Karen decides she's had enough of mum's nagging and announces that she's leaving home to go to Spain, or possibly Greenland. Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for a dinner party, and dad agrees to let Ben crack some eggs – which is a huge mistake. As the guests arrive, Ben gets his first taste of gin and mum gets some unwelcome news from Angela. The drink soon loosens some tongues, and things are said that can never be taken back. The dinner party becomes a disaster zone, and, this time, the parents can't blame any of it on the kids.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Funeral
star
7.60
212 votes

#21 - The Funeral

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/2/2011

The Brockman family have some tough decisions to make about work, video games and who to take to a family funeral. The vicar probably wishes none of them had ever come.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Chinese Horde
star
7.60
84 votes

#22 - The Chinese Horde

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/26/2014

Mum struggles to maintain a work life balance (mainly because her children keep going missing) while Dad battles with a mobile phone that has a mind of its own. Meanwhile, Jake is attempting to get home without money or transport, Ben encounters a Chinese horde and Karen has a life-changing conversation with her headmistress.

The Mystery Illness
star
7.54
175 votes

#23 - The Mystery Illness

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/4/2007

Ben's on the case again – this time he's got a mystery illness and is far too sick to go to school, or so he says. Auntie Angela's been dumped by her boyfriend, so the family rally round to cheer her up in the best way they know how – sparking off a jolly discussion about Nazis and rat bags. Meanwhile, dad's little problem at school becomes public knowledge and he begins to wonder if he might be out of a job. Mum's job is safe, however, or is it?

Watch Now:Amazon
The Hamster
star
7.46
119 votes

#24 - The Hamster

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/29/2014

The Brockman family returns, older but no wiser, to face new challenges. Karen is having trouble adapting to big school, Ben is auditioning for a part in the school musical (even though he has a voice like a walrus), and Jake has made a foolish (and possibly permanent) fashion choice. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad try very hard not to interfere or send disastrously explosive emails.

The City Farm
star
7.46
238 votes

#25 - The City Farm

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/30/2007

Stuck on the A3, mum tries to keep the peace in a car containing a new-age auntie, a bewildered grandfather, three fractious kids and several full bladders. Meanwhile, dad waits outside the headmaster's office, following an ill-judged joke involving obesity and Ramadan. Later at the urban farm, discussions about death, heaven, racism, bird flu and granddad lead to raised tempers, which boil over in the living hell that is a gift shop. As a hectic day draws to an end, mum and dad look fondly at their sleeping kids in the back of the car and have a brief moment of contentment – until they notice that Ben's acquired a new friend.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV