Series two of Outnumbered starts this Saturday (BBC One, 15 November, 9pm) and here at TV Scoop we're looking forward to it. It was one of the surprise hits of last year, and many of you loved it and its very real depiction of family life. In preparation, I spoke to star Hugh Dennis last week. He's been around for a while has Hugh, and it's really nice to see him in another smash. He actually came over as a really lovely, down-to-earth chap (as you kind of guessed he would), and revealed some interesting insights into the series. Read what he had to say after the jump...

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TV Scoop: Last year, Outnumbered provoked just about the most amount of responses I think we've ever seen on this site. Did you have any idea it was going to strike such a chord with people?
Hugh Dennis: Well, we sort knew it was going well. Radio Times have a post bag and stuff, and all the reviews were very positive. I think there was one bad review, but every other review was great. So you were sort of aware of it, but even when we were making it I remember thinking that it felt quite good. But I guess you always think that when you make something. It was gratifying though that it was so well liked.

TVS: For the most part, I think that it was people who don't normally write into magazines or leave comments on sites like ours really felt the need to. The overriding feedback that we got was that the show was the closest depiction of family like that people had ever seen on TV...
HD: I would agree with that [laugh]. You're told never to work with children, mainly because they're so unpredictable. But actually if you put unpredictability at the heart of everything you end up with a much more realistic programme.

TVS: And that's what the show's usp was. It allowed that unpredictability to really shine.
HD: Yes, absolutely. I was saying to someone earlier that when we were making it, we were in very safe hands with Andy [Hamilton] and Guy [Jenkin]. But that wasn't to say nothing was left to chance. Pretty much the whole thing was left to chance!

TVS: So what was the working process like? How much of it is improvised or did you have a broad idea of how a scene was going to go?
HD: It really depended on who was doing the scene. There is a script so you sort of know where you're going, but in an adult scene it's largely scripted. Although we're told to not really learn the lines properly, which is great for someone who doesn't like learning lines. If there was one of the children involved, we sort of know where to go in the scene as adults, while Andy and Guy would be whispering to the children in the corner of the room. When they do that you think: "Oh God, what now?" The scene then starts and one of the children comes over and say something ridiculous to me, and then you really wouldn't know where the scene was going after that.

TVS: Let's talk about the kids in the show for a moment, because they really provoked a huge response...
HD: Yeah, they are really fantastic. In fact you just can't compete with them, which is absolutely fine.

TVS: There were a few moments, after one of the children said something, that it was obvious you were fighting back the laughter.
HD: Completely. If you're having a serious discussion with your child in normal life, they quite often come out with something really funny and you're telling yourself not to laugh. You're often thinking: "Oh, I must tell my wife about that later, but for now..." It's a sort of skill you develop during parenthood - the ability to maintain a straight face. More importantly, even if you manage to not laugh onscreen, if you hear a cameraman laugh in the background, that's really not good.

TVS: Another thing our commenters, erm, commented on was the scheduling. Was there any doubt that a second series would come about and whether it would be in a more accessible time slot?
HD: I thought the scheduling of the first series was oddly positive. The controller, Peter Fincham at the time, never had any doubts about it but he was experimenting with it. I think his thinking was that people would get in after going out, watch it and, oh, wouldn't it be cool if it was broadcast over two weeks. It worked. I think there's a bad reaction sometimes to things that people are told are fantastic, and it's shoved in their faces. The really nice thing about the first series is that people found it, just came across it and they their mates or wrote to you. Suddenly you had this word-of-mouth groundswell. I suspect that if it was a normal 9.30pm sitcom, the pressure would have been on and the method might have had to have been different - we may have had to get laughs in different ways and the casting may have been different. With this new slot, you just hope Casualty isn't too horrible before it!

TVS: Has the ratio between scripts and improv changed for the second series?
HD: No, we're working along the same sorts of lines. All scenes involving kids are improvised, and if there's a scene with just kids in it... [laughs] you have no idea what's going to happen.

TVS: Will there be any story arcs this series?
HD: There are various over-arching storylines to look forward to. We've got the problem of Sue's dad and where he can live because he's burnt his kitchen down. It's quite a serious storyline actually. He's kind of staying with us. I'm still teaching but wondering whether I should apply to Head of History. Sue has new job, which causes some problems because I think she fancies her new boss, or her new boss fancies her. The kids you couldn't possibly keep the same because they're a year older.

TVS: I was going ask about that... do you find that as the kids get older their responses are different?
HD: They're slightly different. They have changed but all in very funny ways. Jake is now starting to get interested in girls and we have to deal with that. Ben is still awkward but more articulate, as is Karen. She's sort of less dreamy but really, really funny.

TVS: Ramona was really fantastic...
HD: Yes, absolutely. She's got real attitude this time.

TVS: It must be quite nice growing up with your onscreen family...
HD: Yes, it is. They're all really, really nice kids and it's a really nice atmosphere onset. When you film it we do it in two terraced houses in Wandsworth. One terrace is the filming house, where the fictional family live, and next door is like an enormous green room. It's like a commune really. You get the kids being tutored on the top floor, Claire and I have a sitting room somewhere, and then we all get cooked for. Everyone piles in at lunchtime.

TVS: We're all really looking forward to it. As you say it was a real word-of-mouth success.
HD: It's great isn't it. It's such a positive programme as well. One of the things I like about it is that while the family members are in crisis, constant crisis, it's not a fundamental crisis - there's not a storyline about the parents getting on really, really badly and will they split up. However shite things get, they're in it together. I hate the phrase feel-good TV, but I think we do deliver that sort of feel-good factor.