The Outnumbered Christmas special will play tribute to David Ryall, who played Grandad Frank in the BBC1 Sitcom.

Advertisement

Ryall played the dementia-suffering dad of Sue Brockman, Claire Skinner’s character, in the first two series and the 2011 Christmas special of the show. The actor passed away on Christmas Day in 2014.

Born in 1935, Ryall was also known for playing Dumbledore’s close friend Elphias Doge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, as well as a host of other small-screen hits such as The Singing Detective, Goodnight Sweetheart and The Village.

Ryall enjoyed a cameo part as an old soldier in the first series of BBC1 drama Our Girl and was popular with fans of Sky 1 comedy Trollied as Vic.

See Ryall at the 1.30 mark in the video below

Today’s 40-minute festive show – the first Outnumbered episode since series five finished in 2014 – will follow the Brockmans attempting a “special mission for Grandad”, before encountering “car problems, child problems, parent problems, emotional problems and World War Two.”

Advertisement

Outnumbered is on at 10pm on Boxing Day on BBC1

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement