Not Going Out

Production

Production history

Mack said in 2026 that Not Going Out originated with his 1999 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Lee Mack's Bits, alongside Catherine Tate and Dan Antopolski. The first joke he thought of was that he would be looking through a telescope, and then jolt it upwards when his wife walked in. He came up with around twelve ideas for "The Flat Sketch", and a television pilot was made in 2005. After receiving feedback that it was hard to believe that his and Tate's characters were a couple, he made them tenant and landlady, and came up with the title Not Going Out.

Producers Avalon assigned Andrew Collins to write alongside Mack. While their script for the pilot took a month to make, the pair spent every weekday of the first half of 2006 writing the five other episodes. Mack based his character on his experiences in his mid-20s, when he lived with friends and struggled for a career. The best friend character was initially called Colin, and was a tough man, similar to Tate's character. Tim Vine, who had acted alongside Mack on The Sketch Show, played Colin in the pilot, though the role was not written for him. When the series began, Mack renamed the character Tim and made his personality closer to Vine's own characteristics. Tate was unavailable for the series due to the popularity of The Catherine Tate Show, so Mack cast American actress Megan Dodds due to his love of American sitcoms. After her departure, she was replaced by Sally Bretton as Lucy. Miranda Hart played an acupuncturist in a series 1 episode, and Mack brought her back as cleaner Barbara for the next two series, until her departure for the sitcom Miranda. Katy Wix as Tim's girlfriend Daisy, and Bobby Ball as Lee's father Frank, were first introduced as one-off characters; Mack said that the frequent turnover of the cast meant that he did not introduce characters to be instantly recurring.

Not Going Out was cancelled in 2009 after its third series, but revived in 2011 after an online petition. Vine left after the fifth series in 2012, saying that he wanted a change. His character was written out by going on a work placement to Germany. The supporting characters Toby (Hugh Dennis) and Anna (Abigail Cruttenden) were introduced as replacements; Mack had enjoyed watching Cruttenden on P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang in 1982. The seventh series was pitched to Dennis and Cruttenden as the finale of Not Going Out. Mack felt that the premise of his character being attracted to his landlady but unable to express it was becoming unusual due to the characters' ageing, and the series concluded with Lee proposing to and marrying Lucy.

Production process

Lee Mack and Andrew Collins were the initial writers, with Paul Kerensa, Simon Evans and Daniel Peak joining the team in later series. Mack is the last remaining actor from the original cast, and the only actor to appear in every episode.

The show currently uses the Chiswick Playhouse to present pre-production script read-throughs, by the cast, to the public. The show is recorded in front of a live audience at Elstree Studios, combined with on-location scenes.

Collins wrote in 2013 that the use of a laugh track and studio audience was considered unfashionable when the show debuted, due to series such as The Office that avoided them. According to producer Jamie Rix, the laughter may be taken from a first take, and then put over a later take in post-production if the first take had to be cut.

As of 2025, Not Going Out now holds the title of the UK's longest-running sitcom currently on air and is second only to Last of the Summer Wine in terms of longevity for prime time sitcoms in the UK.

Most of each episode was shot on set in front of an audience at Teddington Studios. There are two main sets: the flat/house and the bar/coffee shop that Lee frequently visits. Outdoor shots and real indoor location shots have also been used on occasion. The fourth and fifth series were shot at the BBC Television Centre. The sixth and seventh series saw filming return to Teddington Studios. International distribution is handled by Avalon who also produce the series. From Series 5 onwards, Not Going Out was produced in association with Lee Mack's own company, Arlo Productions (named after his son). The 2015 Christmas special was filmed on location in Wimbledon, in a department store, and was screened in London to record the laugh track. After Teddington Studios closed, series 8 was filmed at BBC Elstree Centre and series 9-14 were filmed at Pinewood Studios. Series 15 commenced recording at Elstree Studios on 27 March 2026. In series 6, for the episode entitled Boat, production visited the Port of Ramsgate in Kent to film part of the episode where Lee's dad, Frank (Bobby Ball), has bought a boat and invites Lee and his friends down to Eastbourne for the weekend. When they arrive, the boat is not what everyone expected.

The show is filmed in HDTV and, since series 4, airs simultaneously on BBC One HD. Previous to this, the show was not simulcast on BBC HD, but shown on BBC HD 30 minutes after the BBC One airing.

Synopsis

The series focuses on Lee Mack, who plays a fictional version of himself: an unambitious man, initially in his late thirties living as a lodger in a flat in the London Docklands. Originally from Chorley, Lancashire (which is approximately 20 miles from Southport, Mack's real-life birthplace), Lee is a negligent, unmotivated layabout. Frequently between jobs, he spends most of his days on his sofa watching television or at the local pub with his best friend, Tim Adams (Tim Vine), whom he has known for 15 years. Tim is an accountant from Henley-on-Thames who owns the flat in which Lee is a lodger. Lee is also noted for his cheeky wit and for having a very troubled relationship with his father, with whom he shares many traits and who says that Lee was unplanned and resulted in the end of his marriage.

Very often, the only thing that can get Lee off his sofa and active is his efforts to impress the girl of his dreams. In the first series, this girl is Kate (Megan Dodds), Lee's feisty American landlady, with whom he frequently has conflict but otherwise has a close relationship. Kate is Tim's ex-girlfriend; he left her for a 23-year-old named Emma (whom Lee and Kate frequently suggest looked a lot younger), but he is single again after Emma left him.

In Series 2, with Dodds having left the show, Kate moves back to the United States. Lee's affections soon turn to Tim's sister, Lucy (Sally Bretton), who is a decade younger than Tim. Lucy buys the flat, much to Tim's annoyance, after having spent ten years living in Switzerland. She shares Kate's feisty nature and quick wit, and her interactions with Lee are very similar. Although his frequent laziness annoys her, Lucy sometimes appears to enjoy Lee's presence in the flat, largely because of his company and his willingness to help her out of an awkward situation. Tim soon finds himself drawn into Lee's many schemes to impress Lucy, most of which backfire, fail to impress her or land them in trouble. Often, Lee finds himself confiding in his friend and cleaner, Barbara (Miranda Hart), about his many problems.

Later on in the series, Tim forms a relationship with Daisy (Katy Wix), an incredibly dim-witted, but likeable, young woman. In Series 3, Daisy becomes a regular character. Meanwhile, Lucy considers marrying an Eastern European refugee in a marriage of convenience, until he marries Barbara instead. Later on, Lee's father, Frank (Bobby Ball) returns to try to make amends with his son. In Series 4, Lee continues his antics to impress Lucy. In the series finale, Lee gets hit by a car and falls into a coma. Lee's actions to impress Lucy continue well into Series 5, when they both think they accidentally slept together after drinking potato hooch.

Cast

Recurring characters

^ Lee and Lucy are played by Thomas Gater and Ruby Stokes during flashbacks to childhood.

^ Miranda Hart played an acupuncturist in series one.

^ Angela McHale has appeared in seven episodes of the show, each time playing a different character.

Episodes

Series 1–7: Docklands era

Lee is a juvenile and lazy slacker, who goes from one job to another, living off the good graces of his Californian landlady Kate (Megan Dodds), with whom he shares a flat in London. It is not long before they find that their friendship is changing into something more. The situation is somewhat complicated by the fact that Lee's best friend Timothy Gladstone Adams (Tim Vine), an accountant from Henley, is Kate's ex-boyfriend (they broke up when he cheated on her with 23-year-old Emma) and he wants to repair their relationship. Lee is torn between pursuing his romantic feelings for Kate and remaining loyal to his increasingly paranoid best friend.

Kate has gone back to America in series two, leaving Tim with a flat and lodger he cannot afford to keep. Tim's sister Lucy Adams (Sally Bretton), a head hunter recently back from ten years abroad, buys the flat and becomes the new landlady and flatmate to Lee. Tim also hires a cleaner, Barbara (Miranda Hart), to clean the flat. In Gay, the series' second episode, 51-year-old Guy first appears and he soon becomes Lucy's boyfriend. Lee, now an ice-cream seller, later appears to fall for Lucy. In the last episode, Tim and Lee are convinced Guy is a gangster and has been smuggling diamonds, but it turns out that he was having a diamond engagement ring made for Lucy planning to propose on a romantic holiday. Lee leaves the airport thinking Lucy has said yes to Guy, but she returns saying that she was too young to get married and that she had split up with Guy. There was also a Christmas Special in 2007 which introduced Tim and Lucy's parents - Wendy (Deborah Grant) and Geoffrey (Geoffrey Whitehead) - for the first time. In episode 6, Lee meets a ditzy woman called Daisy at speed dating, who later appeared to fall for Tim. Although at the time it seems that she will be a one-time character, she reappears in the Christmas special as Tim's girlfriend and returns in series three.

The third series sees Lee trying to pursue Lucy. Usually encouraged by Barbara, he invariably ends up making things worse for himself. We also witness Lucy questioning her sexuality, which worries Lee. Daisy also becomes more of a fixture in series three. In the last episode, Lucy is about to marry Pavlov, a mechanic, so he can stay in the country. However, she realises that she's made a mistake, and Lee gets Barbara to marry Pavlov instead; the last scene is of them driving off together for their honeymoon in India. Barbara is seen back in the flat, wanting to go off with Lee's dad, Frank, who is seen in the last episode, which was broadcast as a Christmas Special on 23 December 2009. Lucy and Lee kiss under the mistletoe.

Series 8–13: Walton-on-Thames era

On 24 August 2016, it was confirmed that there would be an eighth series in 2017. It is set seven years after the events of the 2015 Christmas special, and shows how Lee and Lucy cope with being parents to three young children. The series began airing on 13 January 2017, and ended on 3 March 2017. Not Going Out reached its highest ever audience in the opening episode, with a total of 5.52 million viewers.

On 14 November 2017, it was confirmed that a Christmas Special would air in 2017. The episode featured Lee and Lucy facing a possible yuletide disaster when they discover the perfect present they have bought for their children has already been bought by grandparents. On 4 December 2017, it was confirmed that the Christmas Special would air on 24 December 2017.

At a press screening event for series 8 on 14 December 2016, it was confirmed that a ninth and tenth series had been ordered by the BBC. The ninth series of Not Going Out began on 8 March 2018.

In series 9, two episodes were classically farcical: in Stolen, Lee and Lucy, having broken into their best friends' house, are forced to hide under their bed when their friends return unexpectedly early – and head straight for the bedroom; in Pants on Fire, lies build upon lies, and embarrassment soars to a crescendo. In the episodes - Pets and Lollipop Man, they deal with common parents' dilemmas, and in Home Improvements and Escape Room they interact more with their parents – with, naturally, disastrous consequences. In Bust Up, Lucy contemplates having breast augmentation.

On 21 December at 9p.m. on BBC1, the first live episode of the show was broadcast. The premise was that Lee and Lucy were organising a Christmas show for their children's school, and involved Toby and Anna beginning Tom Lehrer's Elements, but veering off as they "forgot" it into lists of supposed ideas, and building into a row. Replacing the supposedly offended knife thrower as a finale, Lee threw genuine knives at Lucy – on a rotating wheel for the final one. It was judged a great success with high reviews.

Series 10 began broadcasting on 15 April 2019 on BBC One, moving to Monday nights as opposed to its usual Friday night slot.

Series 14–present: Countryside era

The show was renewed for a fourteenth series in May 2024. However, prior to this announcement, Mack stated that since the 2023 Christmas special was the 100th episode, he considered bringing the show to an end as he had no plans to work on the series until early 2025.

Series 14 is set 6 years after the 2023 Christmas special with Lee and Lucy moving to a new house in the countryside, as their children are now away at university. The series, also, does not feature Anna, Toby, Geoffrey and Wendy. The fourteenth series began airing weekly from 13 June 2025, same as with the thirteenth series all episodes were made available on BBC iPlayer from 6a.m. on 13 June hours before the first episode aired.

Prior to the fourteenth series airing, the BBC announced that Not Going Out had been renewed for a 6x30 minute fifteenth series set to air in 2026, which has been confirmed to start on 23 September 2026. Series 15 also celebrated the shows 20th anniversary.

Home media

The series has been released on DVD. Although filmed and broadcast in HD, no Blu-rays have been released to date. All episodes up to the end of Series 4 feature different video post-production to the broadcast versions, giving them a US-style 'filmlook' effect, however this was dropped from the Series 5 DVD onwards. The episodes Movie and Drunk are slightly extended for DVD, featuring shots and lines cut or censored for their original BBC One transmission. Some music tracks are replaced by soundalikes for release.

Not Going Out 6 does not include the 2013 Christmas Special, "The House". It is however included on The Christmas Specials and The Complete Series 1–7.