Not Going Out is a light-hearted, fast-paced mainstream sitcom based around the life of a man un-burdened by ambition or drive. Lee deflects criticism and bad news with his trademark wit and one-liners but deep down he is looking for love, a steady job and a flat he can call his own.

In the first series Lee stayed in the flat with an American health fanatic called Kate. Their easy-going, comfortable friendship steadily moved onto potentially romantic ground - a situation complicated by the fact that Lee's best mate Tim was Kate's previous boyfriend.

Kate moved back to America before Series 2 started. Unable to buy the flat himself due to his enduring inability to earn a steady income, Lee was forced to rent the spare room from the flat's new owner - Tim's ambitious younger sister Lucy. Series 3 continued with this premise.

Series 4 saw Lee still desperate to win the affections of his flatmate, Lucy. But it still wasn't plain sailing... and it's not just Lee's complete lack of drive that gets in the way! Trouble seems to find Lee at every turn. Not only are friends Tim and Daisy on hand to cause problems, but also Lee had to cope with stolen drugs, missing OAPs, long-lost daughters and a coma.

In the new 5th series Lee turns rocker when he joins Tim's band, cheered on by Tim's ditzy girlfriend Daisy; takes on the role of carer for his scrounging father; injures himself training for a Fun Run; and prove his manliness by camping in a dark spooky forest. But will a drunken experiment with Lucy show once and for all that love really is in the air or will it just lead to more mayhem and mishaps...?

Our Review: The BBC finally created a Friday night mainstream sitcom that was actually really funny... but then they went and cancelled it - typical! However, wait... for once, the story has a happy ending... the corporation realised they had made a big mistake and to the surprise of everyone they ordered another run after all. The ratings since have showed the recommission was the right decision.

The rapid fire delivery of gags in this sitcom is very impressive although, at times, it does make it feel like you're watching a stand-up show rather than a sitcom (but that's not necessarily a major fault considering Vine and Mack's stand-up experience).

A couple of the jokes do fall flat, but when there are more witty lines in a minute of this show than most sitcoms manage in their whole half-hour, who cares?

The second series of NGO did suffer slightly from the introduction of a number of new characters: Barbara the cleaner was not liked by all, and some felt the relationship between Lucy and her older boyfriend Guy was a bit 'clunky'. However, this second series was nearly up-to-par with the very strong first, and did still achieve the main objective: delivering more gag-filled half-hours into living rooms.

We suggest that the main strength of this comedy is in the friendship between Lee and Tim and the banter that goes on between them. This marvellous chemistry was watered down a little in Series 3, but thankfully there were more Tim-Lee scenes in the fourth run.

We're delighted that the BBC has shown real faith by commissioning and fifth and sixth series at once... Not Going Out now looks like it could run and run, and morph into one of the BBC's most popular sitcoms of the decade.