Not Going Out

Lee Mack Interview

An interview with Lee Mack

The writing is sharp and clever, if a little self-indulgent: the inclusion of three zany elements (depressive author, Lee's job packing Christmas crackers, and circus skills class) in a single episode seemed to me to be trying a bit hard, when the core of the comedy has to be the interplay between Lee, Kate and Tim.

Unfortunately some of the best lines were lost; Lee's delivery was so fast that he didn't give them space to breathe, and the audience's early laughter often swamped the killer line.

A more serious problem is the location: whatever one may say about Men Behaving Badly, Extras, or even Two Pints of Lager, they all have a distinctive locale, a real place where these characters and their relatives live. In contrast, Not Going Out is set in a vague generic city, the same city as Coupling, with an anonymous flat, anonymous bar, anonymous office, and characters with no history.

It had to happen sooner or later. BBC One has finally found a sitcom worth staying in for.... When was the last time any sitcom delivered a gag as perfect as: "Just because Thora Hird can't climb stairs doesn't mean she's a Dalek"? If you can think of any situation where you could shoehorn in a one-liner like that, I'd love to hear it. In the meantime, Not Going Out looks like the perfect solution to Friday nights.

The joke in the modern sitcom was fast becoming an anachronism until Not Going Out came along... in Not Going Out we have a punning gag-rich half hour that speeds along without drawing breath.