Outnumbered (UK TV series) as supporting characters throughout the five series. Samantha Bond has appeared in all series as Auntie Angela, Sue's sister. David Ryall has appeared as Grandad, Sue and Angela's father in series 1 and 2 as well as the Christmas Specials in 2009 and 2011. Rosalind Ayres has appeared as Gran, Pete's mother in series 3, series 4 and the Christmas Special in 2012. Hattie Morahan has appeared in series 1 and 2, as well as the Christmas Specials as Jane. In June 2012, "Outnumbered" was recommissioned for a Christmas special in 2012. A fifth and final series was commissioned and
Christmas by medium film tax benefits). Before 1962, when "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" premiered, true Christmas specials made for TV were either adaptations of stories such as "A Christmas Carol" (with live actors), or the Nativity Story, or episodes of variety shows highlighting Christmas music. They were often hosted by such celebrities as Perry Como, Jane Wyatt, or Florence Henderson. (A notable exception was "The Spirit of Christmas" in 1950, which, although featuring an appearance by Alexander Scourby, who also narrated, starred the Mabel Beaton Marionettes.) This all changed once variety shows began dying out in the late 1980s and Rankin-Bass began producing