Not Going Out. Image shows from L to R: Lee (Lee Mack), Lucy (Sally Bretton). Copyright: Avalon Television / Arlo Productions
Not Going Out

Not Going Out

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC One
  • 2006 - 2023
  • 100 episodes (13 series)

Fast-paced, gag-packed studio sitcom starring Lee Mack and Sally Bretton. Also features Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Geoffrey Whitehead, Deborah Grant, Bobby Ball and more.

Press clippings Page 5

Lucy finds out that the lollipop man has, aptly, been giving the kids lollipops every day. This prompts her to send the family on an enforced health kick, much to Lee's disdain. Lee wrestles hilariously with guilt when he is tasked with asking the elderly and lonely lollipop man to stop handing out treats.

Candice Carty-Williams, The Guardian, 12th April 2018

A dinner party invite from Anna and Toby threatens to ruin Lucy and Lee's evening slumped in front of Norwegian noir on Netflix. Efforts to avoid an awkward evening culminate in a manufactured row but, unluckily for Lee and Lucy, their friends have shared experience as career quarrellers.

Mark Gibbings-Jones, The Guardian, 5th April 2018

Not Going Out: Out and out winner where jokes stay in

Confirmation, if it were needed, that laugh-out-loud BBC comedy Not Going Out (BBC One, Thursday) is now fully at home in suburbia, and thriving with it.

David Stephenson, The Daily Express, 11th March 2018

Lee Mack to film live episode of Not Going Out

The 2019 series of Not Going Out will feature a live episode, Lee Mack has revealed.

British Comedy Guide, 9th March 2018

Lee Mack interview

"Everyone told me British sitcom was dead". The writer and star also opens up about the time he almost walked away from the BBC comedy - and why he writes in a shed.

Thomas Ling, Radio Times, 8th March 2018

Lee Mack complains about alcohol adverts

Lee Mack nearly pulled the plug on sitcom Not Going Out in a row about his work "being used to sell booze".

Radio Times, 26th February 2018

In early 2017, Lee Mack's grumpy but gag-packed sitcom fast-forwarded into Outnumbered territory with Lee and Lucy (Sally Bretton) abruptly becoming parents to three young children. The addition of rosy-cheeked sprogs is a good fit for this special episode as the couple's warring in-laws compete for grandkid affection with gifts so lavish they threaten to outshine Santa. The late Keith Barron guest stars as a prickly toy shop employee.

Graeme Virtue, The Guardian, 24th December 2017

Weirdest musical moments in British comedy

A selection of some of the strangest songs and musical moments in British comedy.

Anglonerd, 9th October 2017

TV humour is lewd, lavatorial & lacking any form of wit

The problem, however, is bigger than just one show. For the abject and high-profile failure of The Nightly Show raises a disturbing question. What has happened to British comedy? The sheer unfunniness of much of it is beyond depressing.

Christopher Hart, Daily Mail, 18th March 2017

Despite their household spend on Fruit Shoots and Skylanders nearing the combined GDP of Scandinavia, Lucy remains open to the idea of a Baby Number Four. Lee isn't quite as enthusiastic, so sitting down and having a frank, open discussion is the most reasonable option. Instead (and inevitably) psychological warfare breaks out, with Toby and Anna as reluctant referees. After all, is another offspring really worth all those weeks without wine?

Mark Gibbings-Jones, The Guardian, 3rd March 2017

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