Katy Wix

There are lots of great things about this boisterous new comedy based around a failing fried chicken shop. For one, manager Mary (Katy Wix) spends most of this opening episode doing an impression of a fictitious Spaniard named Carlos, complete with 70s specs and tache. Mandeep Dhillon, Matthew Cottle and co are also on fine form as her colleagues, battling against inebriated customers at "drunk o'clock". Some gags are a little by-the-numbers but this series still looks to be more sizzling than half-baked.

Katy Wix interview

"It was really funny, because they built this amazing set that looked so realistic. So much so, that people put their CVs under the door, trying to see if there were any jobs going."

Not Going Out series 8 talks are going on

Katy Wix, who plays the insanely ditzy Daisy in the BBC One sitcom, is hopeful that it will return for an eighth - and apparently there are talks happening.

Review: Funny Valentines - Katy Wix: Dear Jean-Pierre

Katy Wix]s romantic short film is a tear-stained Dear John letter, or rather a Dear Jean-Pierre letter, as her ex-lover she is breaking the news to is a French man who doesn't speak any English.

Ashley Jensen, Katy Wix and Hermione Norris star in this comic adventure about a friendless, hard-nosed PR maven who moves to the countryside only to find the peaceful village she has chosen is riven with scandal, murder and rigged baking competitions. The script is very thin gruel but some splendid actors go a long way to saving it. Basically, a much camper Midsomer Murders with a no-brainer whodunnit at its centre and no real character development.

Radio Times review

Pointless's Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman guest-star as themselves when Lee and Daisy appear on the blockbuster BBC One/z] daytime quiz show.

Of course there are two big hurdles - Lee (Lee Mack) knows nothing about anything and Daisy (Katy Wix) is so exquisitely stupid she thinks that The Prisoner of Azkaban is a book of the Bible.

This is the perfect comedy set-up and they both fall headfirst into every comic trap that's been carefully built for them, from Lee's woeful knowledge of American presidents to Daisy's pathological insistence on taking absolutely everything she is told, literally (Wix is brilliant, by the way).

Armstrong and Osman have some fun, too, with Armstrong twinkling and flirting with Lee and Daisy's friend Lucy, and Osman becoming a gimlet-eyed avenger when he sees right through a craven Lee.

You're in for a real treat this week as Pointless hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman hurl themselves into this sitcom playing themselves.

Daisy (Katy Wix) has been accepted as a contestant on the show and Lee uses nefarious means to convince both her and Lucy that he is some kind of quizzing superstar.

It's a glorious set-up as Daisy and Lee prepare to display their entire lack of general knowledge to the nation at large.

For once, it's not just Lee himself who hogs all the best lines. Wix as the clueless Daisy is absolutely terrific, whether she's trying to name an American president or blatantly stalking Osman on whom she has a massive schoolgirl crush.

As for Osman, playing yourself isn't as easy as you'd think, but he proves yet again that there's not much he can't turn his hand to - even if he does have to duck to get through the doorway to his own dressing-room.

It's an episode destined to become as enduring a comedy classic as The Young Ones' appearance on University Challenge.

Now in its seventh series, Mack employs the same formula with his slacker namesake still struggling to navigate through his everyday life. This first episode sees Lee emasculated as he fails to prevent a gang of youths from mugging Lucy (Sally Breton). Lee's shame sees him enrol in boxing classes before taking on a fight against an opponent who humiliates him once again. I believe that the problem with modern day sitcoms is that they spend so long coming up with a premise that they forget their key purpose it to make people laugh. Not Going Out provoked at least four or five big bell laughs during its thirty minute running time and I can't say that about too many other comedies. Although he's no actor, Mack's strength is in his delivery and he makes the far-fetched nature of the plot feel somewhat believable. His line about knitting thieves was particularly clever as was his banter with the receptionist at the boxing gym. As the straight man of the partnership, I don't believe Breton gets the credit she deserves as she sets Mack up for his jokes beautifully. As ditzy Daisy, Katy Wix is used sparingly and as a result doesn't feel as overused as she did in the sitcom's previous outing. After a tricky sixth series, it feels that all three principle players have now learnt to cope without Tim Vine and I believe that this is one of the strongest episodes of Not Going Out that I've seen for a while. Although I'm not sure that I'll find all ten instalments as funny as this opener it's still great to see that old-fashioned gag-based comedies are still succeeding in 2014.