Outnumbered loses half its viewers as fans slammed depressing special

Outnumbered lost half its viewers after fans slammed the 'depressing' Christmas special. 

After a five-year hiatus the Brockman family reunited once more for another festive special but this time under sad circumstances - which show bosses have defended.    

This years episode got 3.6 million overnight viewers with a peak of 3.9million, while the 2016 special had 6.87 million. 

In the latest instalment, Dad Pete, played by Hugh Dennis, revealed to his children Jake, Ben and Karen, played by Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche and Ramona Marquez, that he was battling prostate cancer.

Creator Guy Jenkin explained how he hoped the Christmas special would remove the sigma around cancer and 'show how normal it is.'

In quotes obtained by The Mirror, creator Guy Jenkin said: 'People often remember Outnumbered for the delightful children, but it always dealt with quite serious things: dementia, death, homophobia.' 

He added: 'We dealt with that through how parents explain it to their children and this is the same except that the children are considerably larger.

'There’s still a stigma attached to the word cancer, and we just wanted to show how very, very normal it is, as well as how the Brockmans dealt with it with warmth, love, and especially humour, because that’s a very British way of dealing with that sort of stuff.'    

The show ran from 2007 to 2014 before a surprise Christmas episode in 2019.

This year Pete and Sue (Claire Skinner) were also battling a friend who had overstayed her welcome - by nine weeks, irritating neighbours and an attempt to make a Christmas dinner in November. 

The chaotic Brockman action was set against the backdrop of Jake's new family including a partner and little girl, Ben's attempts to explore the world and Karen being fired from her third job after a messy break-up with her girlfriend. 

And while the much-loved sitcom re-united the cast after five years apart, fans were less than impressed by the episode. 

Viewers took to social media to brand the Christmas special disappointing and questioned the decision to give Pete cancer. 

The patriarch's health scare forms a major subject of the show with the worried father desperately trying to find a way to tell his children the news while remain positive.

But fans found the whole issue too upsetting and many were outraged and said it ruined the show and some fans even found the watching the festive special too upsetting. 

They shared their thoughts on X and asked: 'right now WHAT was the point in giving Pete cancer please????'

Others said: 'Well that wasn’t a barrel of laughs :/ #Outnumbered'; 'this outnumbered special is a hard watch'; 'As someone recently diagnosed with cancer of the blood and bone marrow ,I was looking for a bit of escapism in an old comedy favourite. Instead I get this depressing old b******s'.

Some wrote: 'That Outnumbered special absolutely did not need to be made. Felt very forced and just not funny at all'.