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TV preview: Not Going Out, BBC1

Has Lee Mack become a time traveller? In the new series of Not Going Out he suddenly has three children, all around primary/infant school age, whereas a year ago he had only just become a father for the first time. Apparently the new series of Not Going Out is set seven years on. But don't expect any hoverboards or meals served in pill form. This is about as traditional and old-fashioned as sitcoms get.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 12th January 2017

BBC orders two more series of Not Going Out

The BBC has ordered two more series of Not Going Out, meaning Lee Mack's show will become one of the country's longest-running sitcoms.

British Comedy Guide, 14th December 2016

Not Going Out to return... with three kids

The BBC has confirmed Lee Mack's hit sitcom Not Going Out is to return for an eight series, but with changes. The new run will see Lee and Lucy looking after three young children.

British Comedy Guide, 24th August 2016

Not Going Out to return for Series 8

Lee Mack's hit sitcom Not Going Out is to return for an eighth series.

British Comedy Guide, 24th March 2016

Not Going Out could return as a "family sitcom"

Lee Mack's long-running BBC One show could continue in a new guise, reveals star Sally Bretton: "Watch this space"

Ellie Walker-Arnott, Radio Times, 25th February 2016

Sally Bretton interview

Sally Bretton, star of the BBC sitcom Not Going Out, likes to fly under the radar of fame - and that includes two names, a guarded private life and a body double.

Harry Wallop, The Telegraph, 21st December 2015

Radio Times review

And you thought Not Going Out ended for good last Christmas when hopeless slacker Lee actually did the right thing for once and married the long-suffering Lucy.

But no, everyone is back for a special episode with a festive theme. A year on from the wedding and Lucy (Sally Bretton) is heavily pregnant, three days overdue with her and Lee's first baby. But the poor woman can't simply put her feet up and await the birth, she and Lee (Lee Mack) are embroiled in a hold-up at a department store. Their captor is Father Christmas himself.

All of the regulars return, including the estimable Katy Wix as dopey Daisy, and the gag count is as high as ever.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 16th December 2015

Radio Times review

A peach of a series finale, running in real time with Lee Mack in his favourite spot at the bar throughout. Lucy (Sally Bretton) is on her way to a restaurant for a job interview, and if she gets the role she'll be leaving for good. So Lee and Toby (Hugh Dennis) ponder life for Lee without Lucy. Should he run next door and hammer on the window, like Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate? Can he even admit he loves her?

The show's detractors say it's just a heap of puns with no soul. Not tonight. The underlying theme of the lackadaisical joker using silliness as a defence mechanism is blown open. Yet the gags - and there are many brilliant ones - never, ever stop.

Jack Seale, Radio Times, 19th December 2014

The ultimate in middle-of-the-road British comedy, the gags on offer here are so predictable they may have you convinced you've got extrasensory perception. It's well intentioned, though, and well into its seventh outing it continues to pull in both rapturous laughter from a studio audience and healthy viewing figures. This week, Lee (Lee Mack) attempts to impress wealthy neighbours Toby and Anna (new regular cast members Hugh Dennis and Abigail Cruttenden) with some tall tales, as flatmate Lucy (Sally Bretton) plays along.

Hannah J. Davies, The Guardian, 7th November 2014

Radio Times review

"Quinoa, fennel and ramekins [are] the names of your future children."

This is what is yelled by slacker Lee (Lee Mack), who's hopelessly drunk at a society party and furious at the company of his and Lucy's humourless, dull neighbours.

Of course, no one in their right mind would ever invite someone so socially inept to such a do, so the road is paved for Lee to get hammered and reveal his working-class roots at full, outraged volume: "I am scum! I've got a bag for life from Greggs!" Poor, long-suffering Lucy (Sally Bretton), all she wanted to do was widen her circle of friends...

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 7th November 2014

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