Jacob Peter Brockman more commonly aJake is a fictional character... in the television series, Outnumbered, and is portrayed by Tyger Drew-Honey.
Characterization[]
Jake is the oldest son of Pete and Sue. In many ways, Jake is the most sensible member of the family, as well as being the oldest child out of the three. He tends to be rather more serious than a teenage boy should be, leading him to be very cynical and sarcastic. He seems to know something about everything, possibly because he spends most of his time using his computer, which does occasionally get him into trouble.
Even though he does things himself that are wrong, he manages to turn things around on his parents, shown especially in the Christmas Special with music downloads, also in The Restaurant where Sue believes he is seeing Kelly as a 'Slab of meat' where as Kelly sees him as a very mature and very sexy guy, believing him to be 16.
Jake often lies about his age when he has a crush on a girl; in Series 3 he tells Kelly he's 16, and in Series 4 he tells his girlfriend Victoria he was 17 (although she too lied about her age).
Despite he's maturer than Ben and Karen he can give Pete and Sue attitude but more to his dad.
Character History[]
Series 1[]
In series one, Jake was eleven. He was wise beyond his years and he seems to know about everything. The trouble with having so much knowledge is that Jake frequently managed to bring a halt to a conversation by recalling a newspaper's scare-mongering story related to whatever they're talking about. Whether it be
contracting bird flu, or the odds of a particle physics laboratory creating a black hole that will destroy the world, Jake managed to bring the mood down.
Having started a new school, Jake was clearly more scared about what lies ahead than he was letting on. There were suspicions that Jake was struggling to make friends at secondary school and is being bullied, however when probed by his dad he always responds that he is fine when he's not.
His relationship with his father is initially strained, but gradually improves throughout the series. It hits a low point when his phone is stolen, but they rapidly get closer when Pete comforts him over the dinner part incident.
Series 2[]
Jake matured a bit in series two. He has stopped recalling incidents such as bird flu, and he often answers back to his parents. The introduction of Jo provides Jake's parents with an unsure attitude towards how they should treat Jake. Things such as 'covering' for Jo seem small to Jake, but his parents feel that they should try to talk Jake out of it and when asked again, Jake refuses. This shows, that whatever their conflicts, Jake still values what his parents think of him.
Series 3[]
Jake is now thirteen and he's sarcastic and clever. He leads a more independent lifestyle and gets irritated when the younger children mess about, especially Ben, which is to be expected from a teenager. Therefore we see a slight role reversal between him and his parents, notably his dad. We see this in the Christmas special with the insurance, and also on occasions in the series where Jake takes control of Ben and Karen.
Series 4[]
Jake, Now Fifteen, is in Year 11, popular and in a band. He attends Uncle Bob's funeral, goes off alone a lot, and gets very annoyed by Ben, with Ben now being in the same school as he is. Sue is convinced he is hiding something and it is learned in episode 5, that Jake is dating a nineteen year old girl, named Victoria (who was told that Jake was seventeen through the use of a fake ID), and later still it is learned that Victoria is a pole dancer who has danced for Jake. Next episode it is revealed to Victoria that Jake is fifteen, not seventeen, and she then tells him she is sixteen, not nineteen, and they go off to see a movie together. They were perfect for each other, they both faked their age. Great minds think alike.
Comic Relief Special[]
In the comic relief special Jake reveals to his parents that he is doing a sponsored joke telling much to Sue's delight who then spends the episode attempting to be funny in front of the children, without a result. This is the main story of the episode and in the end when Sue trips over the dishwasher Jake is amused.
Series 5[]
Jake is now seventeen, he is still sarcastic a lot. He seems to always be losing something and he doesn't like his dad reading his messages. During this series he is also deciding whether to have a Gap Year or to just go straight to Uni and appoints himself as a parenting expert in the household.
2016 Christmas Special[]
In the 2016 Christmas Special, Jake has not changed much, however he has a girlfriend called Kate who he wants to dump. However, Pete inadvertently does this for him. Kate and her mother react badly to this, leaving them stranded as she was going to give them a lift but doesn’t due to her perceiving Jake as weak for what Pete has said. It is revealed later in the episode that he has got a job in New Zealand and will be moving away for two years, however it could possibly be more.