Recent stories from our news team:

• Tim Vine quits Not Going Out (18/05/12)

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.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 18th May 2012

Not Going Out: an appreciation

As Not Going Out series 5 draws to a close, Simon salutes a quietly brilliant sitcom...

Written by Simon Brew. Den of Geek, 17th May 2012

There's no point looking to Not Going Out for bold surprises or multi-layered comic finesse. What it delivers are sharp, uncomplicated laughs, laced with a good-natured smuttiness perfect for Friday nights.

And the key words in that sentence are "it delivers". If you don't like one gag, there'll be another along momentarily, probably also revolving around misunderstandings or double meanings. Hence tonight, Lee (Lee Mack) is concerned about his nether regions, and Lucy is keen for him to examine himself properly. "Do you ever check yourself, er... downstairs?" she enquires daintily, to which Lee replies, "Yeah - until the woman downstairs tells me to get out."

It is, Lee explains "not the bratwurst but the brussels sprouts" that are causing concern, which leads to a lovely series of scenes with friend Tim as they try to establish the size sprouts should in fact be.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 11th May 2012

Prepare to be buried in a torrent of smut when Lee takes up Lucy's challenge to join a fun run. It sounds an unlikely source for a welter of mucky gags, but when Lee (Lee Mack) pulls a muscle during a half-hearted attempt at training, and when he hires a Polish masseuse to help, only he doesn't realise she's that kind of masseuse, we are pitched into Carry On type misunderstandings.

Before we know it, Lee and Tim have been arrested for kerb-crawling and end up in a brothel. Of course it doesn't matter that they are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing; it can't stop a flow of jokes that would make Roy Chubby Brown reach for a lace handkerchief.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 4th May 2012

Lee Mack's sitcom sees his hapless character start training for a fun run tonight and end up becoming embroiled with a prostitute. Its gag-heavy humour isn't to all tastes in this era of observational comedy, and some jokes do fall a bit flat, but most are pretty original - one of tonight's cleverer ones is: "Usain Bolt, I say tomato". The plots are also cleverly constructed, and, above all, Mack and co-star Tim Vine have fantastic comic chemistry. It's a very enjoyable half hour.

Vicki Power, The Guardian, 3rd May 2012

Tonight's episode climaxes (if that's the right word) with Tim Vine and Lee Mack in bed with a Polish sex worker - the culmination of a very shaggy dog story indeed. As Vine sighs, this is what comes of being a friend of Mack, whose sitcom is like a more risqué Men Behaving Badly, with more one-liners. Vine does make one astute observation: "If prostitution's the oldest profession, it must have been the first and only profession. So where was everyone else getting the money to pay for it?"

Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 3rd May 2012

The best lines tonight go to smashing Katy Wix as Daisy, Tim's remorselessly stupid girlfriend. Daisy is a woolly-hatted thumb-head, a dim pixie, a clot. She thinks camping is sexist because of its terminology: "One-man tent, guy rope" and eczema is a National Park.

Daisy is at her most wide-eyed when the Not Going Out quartet head to the woods for a night spent in tents under the stars. Disaster quickly looms when Tim's car breaks down and Lee (Lee Mack) decides to behave like a real man to impress his adored Lucy. But there's something nasty in the woods and no one feels brave. It's all very silly, but you will laugh, despite yourself.

Alison Graham, The Daily Mirror, 27th April 2012

Lee Mack is all over BBC1's Friday night line-up tonight.

As well as his regular stint as team captain on Would I Lie To You?, he's also rubbing shoulders with Zac Efron and Matt Le Blanc on The Graham Norton Show for anyone who just can't get enough of him.

Here, his sitcom almost lives up to the promise of its title as Lee, Tim, Daisy and Lucy attempt to go on a camping trip but don't actually get out of the car.

Lee is trying to prove that he's more of a real man than Tim.

It's a contest which hardly seems worth taking part in, but perhaps that's why he's gallantly allocated the lion's share of one-liners to dim Daisy (played by Katy Wix) and is content to take more of a back seat.

Literally, in this case.

Jane Simon, The Daily Mirror, 27th April 2012

The quartet do head out tonight, into the great outdoors, on a camping trip that quickly descends into the usual silly farce that you'll enjoy against your better judgement. Don't miss dopey Daisy (Katy Wix) showing Tim Vine what she's made of.

Sharon Lougher, Metro, 27th April 2012

Not Going Out review

Not Going Out does not require much analysis - it is meant as a tool for relieving the stress of the week and little else. It does, however, do a commendable job with that.

Written by Gareth Barsby. Suite 101, 20th April 2012

Going out to watch Not Going Out (recording report)

Being a massive fan of the show, walking into the studio and seeing the set was a bit surreal yet mesmerising at the same time.

Written by Elliot Gonzalez. 20th April 2012

Bobby Ball guests as Lee's wastrel dad, who arrives at the flat - almost top to toe in plaster - to throw himself upon his son's mercy. But Lee's mercy is strained, non-existent, even, particularly when dad needs a painkiller that cannot be taken orally and which has to be inserted, ahem, elsewhere.

You'll have gathered that this is comedy as broad as the M62. Luckily, Lee Mack just about gets away with a stream of gags about backsides; some are genuinely funny, some are just rank. If it's sophistication you're after, it's probably best to look elsewhere.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 20th April 2012

How many gags can you think of about suppositories?

Not as many as Lee Mack and his writing partner Daniel Peak, I'll bet.

Recurring guest star Bobby Ball, who plays Lee's errant father Frank, returns tonight for an episode crammed full of buttock-clenching humour.

Frank's got both his arms and legs in plaster after being hit by a bus and he's looking for a roof over his head, as well as a little pain relief and TLC.

But there's no love lost between father and son and Lee wouldn't touch his dad with a barge pole at the best of times.

I can't help thinking that a lot of unpleasantness could probably have been avoided if landlady Lucy had just bought paracetamol in the first place.

Jane Simon, The Daily Mirror, 20th April 2012

Bobby Ball returns tonight to stir up more trouble as Lee's dad. This time he's in a wheelchair, covered head to toe with plaster, and in possession of some pain relief that can only be administered where the sun don't shine. That's the source of some obvious gags, but Lee Mack and Tim Vine play out the farce with their usual, splendid verve.

Sharon Lougher, Metro, 20th April 2012

The brilliant Bobby Ball is back as Lee's (Lee Mack) wayward father Frank in this gently amusing sitcom. He turns up on the doorstep unannounced, in a wheelchair and asking to stay. Lee wants rid but Lucy (Sally Bretton) takes pity and invites him in. When Tim (Tim Vine) and his father (Geoffrey Whitehead) drop round to watch the cricket, their relationship inspires Lee and Frank into some father-son bonding.

Toby Dantzic, The Daily Telegraph, 19th April 2012

Not Going Out - Series 5, Episode 1 review

Tonight's episode does have its fair share of laughs, even if, at times, they're overshadowed by some truly terrible one-liners.

Written by Jack Sharp. On the Box, 13th April 2012

Not Going Out - Series 5, Episode 1 review

I genuinely can't think of a current British sitcom that's proven so consistently strong for so long. Long may it continue.

Written by Simon Brew. Den Of Geek, 13th April 2012

It's the new series of Lee Mack's pun-tastic, guilty pleasure sitcom. And there are a few improvements: Lucy, the put-upon landlady who is forever the apple of Lee's eye, has had her edges softened; and Katy Wix is given better material to work with as Tim Vine's dappy girlfriend. To kick off, Vine looks endearingly ridiculous as he decides to join a band.

Metro, 13th April 2012

The set-up for tonight's series opener is sound, sending Lee into a perfect storm of personal and professional jealousy when Tim's new pub rock outfit wins a battle of the bands contest and Lucy falls for the smug guitarist. Such is the onslaught of funnies in Not Going Out (targets range from Tango ads to Samantha Janus) that, as derivative as it is, a decent hit-rate is more-or-less guaranteed, and the climactic, bromantic take on I Know Him So Well is a triumph.

Gabriel Tate, Time Out, 13th April 2012

Sally Bretton filmed NGO two weeks after giving birth

Not Going Out star Sally Bretton, who plays Lee's love interest Lucy, started filming the latest series two weeks after giving birth.

The Sun, 13th April 2012

Friday nights are Lee Mack night, with Would I Lie to You? and the return of this endearingly silly sitcom, an unashamedly old-fashioned half-hour of daft gags, smut, wisecracks and wordplay. Mack plays a version of himself, the world's worst flatmate, Lee: an ageing slacker who's in (undeclared) love with his comely landlady, Lucy (Sally Bretton).

Lucy's dull financial adviser brother Tim (Tim Vine) has joined a rock band, the Auditors, and his supporters are out in force. But his onstage banter is painful, leading Lee to observe: "Somewhere, in a parallel universe, Alice Cooper is advising someone about the advantages of a cash ISA."

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 13th April 2012

Back for a well-deserved fifth series, Lee Mack and his co-stars are set to give your jaws another high intensity workout with an episode that packs so many laughs into each minute, the EU should probably slap a health warning on it.

All I need tell you about this week's episode is that Tim (Tim Vine) has joined a rock band - a concept so horrible and unlikely that it needs to be seen with your own eyes.

Lee's jealous that the guitarist fancies Lucy and has even written a song for her, but he's written a few lyrics of his own, too.

You know that gorgeous love song on Britain's Got Talent recently?

Lee's is even better than that. Why? Well, this one rhymes Lucy with Zanussi.

Jane Simon, The Daily Mirror, 13th April 2012

Tim Vine on how Not Going Out cast kept on laughing

Tickled Tim Vine has revealed how the Not Going Out cast keep laughing during filming.

The Sun, 13th April 2012

Katy Wix annoyed by not getting recognised for comedy

"Depressingly, I get recognised for that. I don't get recognised much for the comedy I do."

The Sun, 13th April 2012

Lee Mack has nude scenes in new series of Not Going Out

Fans will be seeing a lot more of Lee Mack in the new series of Not Going Out.

Written by Jen Blackburn. The Sun, 13th April 2012