BBC One has commissioned the writers of Drop to Dead Donkey Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton to write a six-part series which will be partly improvised.

Outnumbered is a comedy about a young couple, played by Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, and their children aged five, seven and 11, living in London.

The comedy will have a "semi-improvisational element", intended to ensure the two adults can be taken by surprise by their children.

The writers say this will make the set up more "real, giving a sense of the stuff small kids do come up with".

The series is expected to air later this year in a weekday slot after the BBC One 10pm news.