Lee Mack’s multi-award-winning show, the longest running sitcom on air, returns with a new Christmas special as the comedy series hits 100 episodes, joining an elite group of sitcom centenarians.

Brace for yuletide suburban chaos courtesy of Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) as Lee throws everything at creating the perfect family Christmas, agreeing to Lucy’s wishes to do something charitable and having “a normal Christmas where nothing goes wrong.”  This moment of festive spirit sees the couple invite Wilfred, a lonely pensioner from the nearby care home, to join them for Christmas dinner.  The only instruction is that Wilfred is not, under any circumstances, allowed to drink alcohol…

Given best friends Toby (Hugh Dennis) and uptight Anna (Abigail Cruttenden) are on hand, as well as Lucy’s lovely mum Wendy (Deborah Grant) with curmudgeonly dad Geoffrey (Geoffrey Whitehead), surely Lee can ensure this Christmas runs to plan?

Not Going Out is produced by Avalon (1×45) for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. It was commissioned by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy at the BBC.  The Executive Producers for Avalon are Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, Lee Mack and Jon Thoday and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Gregor Sharp

Episode available via BBC Previews.

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What the press said about the current series…

“I’ve watched all seven episodes of this new run and it’s in cracking form, with a couple of potential all-time greats amongst the seven… a platform for the cast to fire out the gags at a rate of almost three a minute, with Mack throwing in the odd bit of slapstick for good measure.  It’s difficult to pick a favourite gag”
Ian Hyland, The Mirror

“Mack and his cast, as always, appear to be having a whale of a time and it’s infectious. Amid the mirth, there are also some sweetly affecting moments.”
Michael Hogan, The Radio Times

“As Lee Mack’s long-running sitcom Not Going Out returned, I counted 84 one-liners, sight gags and punchlines in 30 minutes. Every one was honed to a razor edge. Most comedies can’t cram that many funnies into a full series.”
Christopher Stevens, The Daily Mail

“so unapologetically old- school – harking back not just to the gag-heavy comedies of the 70s, but also to the theatrical farces of earlier decades. Indeed, each episode is a self-contained farce, the audience barely able to catch its breath between the jokes… And given the quantity of jokes, it is impressive how many of them land.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i Newspaper

“zinger-stuffed sitcom.”
Graeme Virtue, The Guardian

 “Lee Mack’s brilliant sitcom ends its current run on BBC1 very shortly. But on the iPlayer you can already binge the lot (plus every other episode ever made, right back to 2006, when the show was very different but no less funny)”
Mike Ward, The Daily Star

“Perfecting the sitcom formula is no easy feat… That’s why Not Going Out is such a joy to watch, with the cast clearly at ease from working together for so long and the jokes flowing fast”
Emma Noble, The Sun

“these tiny suburban farces escalate with expert velocity”
Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times

“SMALL JOYS OF TV: Lee Mack’s gag ratio on Not Going Out.”
Gary Bushell, The Daily Star on Sunday

★★★★
Mike Mulvihill, The Daily Mail

“It’s all a vehicle for a delightful barrage of one-liners from Lee Mack.”
Sara Wallis, The Mirror

“Lee Mack’s triumphant Friday-night sitcom … Silly in the absolute best way.”
The Daily Telegraph

“Series 13 of the comedy mainstay and Lee Mack’s one-man joke machine shows no sign of spluttering in the exhaust”
James Jackson, The Times

“It has undergone cancellation, revival, change of cast and new settings, but millions of viewers have stuck with it every step of the way.”
The Daily Mail

“it’s as smartly put together as ever.”
Gabriel Tate, The Daily Telegraph

For more information, images or interview requests, please contact:
Dan Lloyd, Lucy Plosker or Tara Dein at Avalon on DLloyd@avalonuk.com / LPlosker@avalonuk.com / TDein@avalonuk.com