Not Going Out

The return of Not Going Out

Lee Mack's Not Going Out returns to the BBC for its sixth series this evening, with an episode that proves there is life after Tim Vine...

Lee Mack's reliably straightforward sitcom returns for a sixth series with Lee reluctantly coming to the aid of flatmate Lucy after she runs over a potential client's pet rabbit. Complications follow in the form of mistaken identity, a troublemaking parrot and some car keys falling down a drain. It's nothing new, yet it feels oddly novel: long-running, über-traditional sitcoms are currently few and far between.

Judging by the first half of this opener, that might not seem like a great loss. Laboured witticisms come at the expense of proper dialogue, with jokes and puns of wildly varying quality crowbarred into the script at any opportunity. But in those moments when the action builds to almost perfectly constructed silliness, Mack's wooden acting, the stock plot, incessant recaps and broadly etched set-up (Tim Vine's exit from the show is explained with thundering lack of subtlety seconds in) start to gel. Nowadays, we might prefer our farce in more coherent and intelligent surroundings, but you'd have to be pretty serious about comedy to begrudge this steadfast sitcom its enduring success.

Lee Mack's gag-packed, innuendo-laden creation is now on its sixth series, and has been sold to 120 countries. Set in London's Docklands, it follows happy-go-lucky slacker Lee (Mack himself) who has a crush on his flatmate Lucy (Sally Bretton), while Katy Wix (Anna & Katy) plays their dim-witted hairdresser friend Daisy. This eight-part run is the first without Mack's co-star and punning partner Tim Vine and begins with head-hunter Lucy going for dinner at a client's house in an attempt to secure a lucrative contract.

Interview: Lee Mack

Is Lee Mack, one of TV's most quick-witted comics, as funny off stage as he is on?

Lee Mack interview

TV Choice met Lee Mack to chat about the new series and life after Tim Vine...

Lee Mack reveals Not Going Out has different endings

Fans of the BBC One comedy Not Going Out may finally see the friendship between landlady, Lucy, and her flatmate develop into romance.

Mack, who plays unemployed lodger, Lee, has revealed that two versions of the final episode have been filmed.

Lee Mack: I'd love to do Not Going Out movie and tour

Hit BBC sitcom Not Going Out soon will go out for live dates - if star Lee Mack gets his way. Lee, who co-writes the series, wants to take the show on tour - and give it the movie treatment.

A hungover Lee wakes up in bed with Lucy: "I take it you're naked as well?" she cries, horrified. "Well, I kept me socks on," he replies, "I've got some dignity." Yes, after several series of quip-tastic lusting after his flatmate, it looks as if Lee has finally got further than a kiss under the mistletoe. Good news? No - they're both in a state because they can't remember a thing, thanks to all the home-made potato hooch they drank. And they're desperate that Lucy's brother Tim shouldn't find out. From there we get a typically likeable, gag-rich storyline, helped along by the presence of peerless sitcom-senior Geoffrey Whitehead as Lucy's dad. Yes - her parents get involved.