The Royal Television Society and Golden Rose award-winning Not Going Out, written by and starring LEE MACK, returns to BBC ONE this January. Back with an extended eight-part series, the sitcom follows the jokes, jibes and general misunderstandings of happy-go-lucky Lee (LEE MACK), his best mate Tim (fellow BAFTA Award winner and stand-up, TIM VINE) and the object of Lee’s hapless affections, his landlady and Tim’s sister Lucy (SALLY BRETTON, The Office, Green Wing).
Following the series two finale, in which Lee successfully sabotaged Lucy's relationship with her then boyfriend Guy, we find a man still unburdened by ambition or drive, and with no significant plan to address his feelings for Lucy. However with pregnancies, insurance scams and lesbian neighbours muddying the water, not to mention having to deal with his well-meaning but utterly useless cleaner Barbara (MIRANDA HART, Hyperdrive, Lead Balloon) and Tim's ditzy girlfriend (KATY WIX, Torchwood), it looks like he's got enough to keep his mind off the bigger picture.
An acclaimed writer and performer, LEE is probably best known to television audiences as a resident team captain on Would I Lie To You? (BBC ONE), from Have I Got News For You (BBC ONE) and as a key performer in the BAFTA Award winning The Sketch Show (ITV1), which ran for two series in the UK before LEE went on to work alongside KELSEY GRAMMER in an American version of the show. He has also written and starred in his Sony Radio Award nominated The Lee Mack Show (BBC Radio 2); hosted They Think It’s All Over (BBC ONE); and headlined on Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (BBC ONE). An award-winning stand-up, LEE'S latest tour was a sell-out, which was nominated for a British Comedy Award, recorded for release on DVD, and subsequently broadcast on Channel 4 this autumn. In 2005 LEE won the Best Stand-Up award at the Loaded LAFTAS, in addition to previously winning a Time Out Best Live Comedy Award and receiving a nomination for the Perrier Award.
ends
Not Going Out Series 3 will transmit on BBC ONE for 8 weeks from Friday 30th January 2009.
“Lee Mack’s mouthy flat-share sitcom is just the sort of effortless entertainment that can revive sunken spirits.”
Dominic Maxwell, The Times
For further information, review DVDs or interview requests please contact:
Lucy Plosker, Jo Cross or Dan Lloyd at Avalon on: 020 7598 7222, lucyp@avalonuk.com, joc@avalonuk.com or danl@avalonuk.com
WHAT THE PRESS HAS SAID ABOUT NOT GOING OUT:
"It had to happen sooner or later. BBC ONE has finally found a sitcom worth staying in for… When was the last time any sitcom delivered a gag as perfect as: “Just because Thora Hird can’t climb stairs doesn’t mean she’s a Dalek”? If you can think of any situation where you could shoehorn in a one-liner like that, I’d love to hear it. In the meantime, Not Going Out looks like the perfect solution to Friday nights."
Jane Simon, Daily Mirror
"Lee Mack's comedy Not Going Out turned into one of the most laugh-aloud comedies on screen in aeons. The ubiquitous shots of buildings lend it a distinctly American feel, but it is the tightness of the scripts with quite complex gags built up over conversations - particularly between Lee and his friend Tim - that make it so different."
Jaci Stephen, The Mail on Sunday
"The joke in the modern sitcom was fast becoming an anachronism until Not Going Out came along…In Not Going Out we have a punning gag-rich half hour that speeds along without drawing breath."
David Stephenson, The Sunday Express
"I must admit I tend to have a mild panic attack whenever a preview copy of a new British sitcom lands on my doormat. As does my wife, so rather than remain at my side to offer moral support as I go about my professional duty, she'll usually sneak off to bed with a fat Jilly Cooper and a small bucket of Cotes Du Rhone. However, this new effort from comic Lee Mack not only held our attention but drew genuine titters from the pair of us, which I have to stress is praise indeed."
Mike Ward, ‘Saturday Magazine’ The Express
"There's no shortage of gags in this enjoyable new sitcom. No wonder given it's part written by stand-up comic Lee Mack, a man never knowingly caught short of comedy… And look out for the perfect joke on self-harming… Not much "sit" but plenty of "com" in Lee Mack's new sitcom about a man, his flatmate and his friend."
David Butcher, Radio Times
EPISODE SYNOPSIS
EPISODE ONE - PREGNANT
By Lee Mack
When Lucy announces that she is pregnant, Lee wonders if the father might accidentally be him. He can’t bring himself to tell Lucy how he thinks it might have happened but Tim guesses. He is outraged at the thought of his friend and his sister together but Lee has already started to warm to the idea of being a dad…
EPISODE TWO - WINNER
By Andrew Collins & Lee Mack
Lee is insufferably smug when he wins £1000 in a writing competition with an essay entitled ‘Disability in the Workplace’. Lucy is moved to tears when she reads the essay and had no idea that Lee was so sensitive. Tim, however, is more sceptical and with good reason, because when a journalist turns up to interview the winner she is expecting to meet a disabled author.
EPISODE THREE - AMY
By Darin Henry & Lee Mack
Over-excited by the appearance of a lesbian couple in their building, Lee and Tim ask them over for dinner, little realising that their adolescent attempt to get their jollies will backfire when Lucy discovers a side to herself that she never knew existed.
EPISODE FOUR - PARTY
By Lee Mack and Daniel Peak
When Tim and Lee try to organise a surprise party for Lucy’s 30th birthday their ideas of what makes a good party differ widely. Tim likes a few games of charades while Lee likes a do where there are no competitors for Lucy’s attention. So when she turns up at the party arm-in-arm with another man Lee makes it his mission to get rid of him… without causing a scene, obviously.
EPISODE FIVE - NEIGHBOUR
By Simon Dean and Lee Mack
A new neighbour moves in upstairs and his constant noise drives Lucy to distraction. She begs Lee and Tim to get him to stop but neither is man enough. Tim takes the tag of wimp to heart and rushes off to join a boxing gym while Lee, in an attempt to impress Lucy, makes the mistake of confronting the man in his own flat, where he finds a creepy psychopath with the eyes of a cold killer.
EPISODE SIX - SPEECH
By Lee Mack
Lucy is stressed. She has an important speech to make at a Recruitment Conference and nobody to help her write it. Lee sees an opportunity to impress her and offers his services but at the expense of Tim, who also thinks he’s the best man for the job. What starts off as a small job now turns into a competition between Tim and Lee to not only see who can come up with the wittiest lines but also to establish which of them Lucy likes best.
EPISODE SEVEN - MARRIAGE
By Lee Mack
Lee is horrified when he hears that Lucy is considering marriage to Pavlov, a mechanic from the old Eastern bloc, just so that he can stay in the country. But he is a lone voice in trying to stop it, because one by one, as Lucy’s family and friends hear Pavlov’s tragic tales of life back home, they are persuaded that he is a perfect match for Lucy.
EPISODE EIGHT - ABSENT FATHER CHRISTMAS
By Daniel Peak and Lee Mack
Lee’s father turns up at the flat unannounced. This is the man who walked out of the family home when Lee was four, never paid his maintenance and ate Lee’s goldfish. Lee wants him out of the flat but Lucy tells him that the only way forward is to forgive and forget. Unfortunately, Lee’s dad’s behaviour makes this virtually impossible for Lee to achieve.
TIM VINE BIOGRAPHY
Returning for the third series of Not Going Out, TIM also co-starred with LEE MACK in both series of the BAFTA Award winning series The Sketch Show (ITV1). TIM is also known as a TV host, having devised and presented Fluke (Channel 4), which was nominated for a Golden Rose at the International Rose d’Or Television Festival. He also became the first man to appear on five, presenting quiz show Whittle. Tim has also starred in The Tim Vine Christmas Present (five), Saturday Live (ITV) and The Stand Up Show (BBC ONE).
TIM became the Guinness World Record holder for Telling The Most Jokes in an Hour - smashing the previous record with a total of 499. He has appeared on the Royal Variety Show (ITV1) alongside SHIRLEY BASSEY and KYLIE MINOGUE, and has also played to sold-out venues across the UK with his The Joke Machine Gun and Punslinger national tours. His new stand-up DVD entitled So I Said To This Bloke... has just been released to five star reviews.
SALLY BRETTON BIOGRAPHY
A graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, audiences will know SALLY from her performances in some of the most successful comedy series of recent years including The Office (BBC TWO), Green Wing (CHANNEL 4) and Absolute Power (BBC TWO). She has also recently appeared in Hotel Babylon (BBC ONE).
In 2002, SALLY was nominated in the Best Actress category at the Manchester Evening News Awards for her role as Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Most recently she has appeared as Goneril in King Lear and as Heloise in In Extremis at the Globe Theatre, London. Other stage credits include ARTHUR MILLER’S All My Sons at the Library Theatre, Manchester and A Conversation at the Manchester Royal Exchange.
MIRANDA HART BIOGRAPHY
An acclaimed live performer and comedy actress, MIRANDA has most recently starred in the second series of HYPERDRIVE (BBC ONE) after being nominated for a British Comedy Award for the first series; played Shelley in critically acclaimed Angelos (five); and appeared in Lead Balloon (BBC THREE) with JACK DEE and Nighty Night (BBC TWO) with JULIA DAVIS. She also recently appeared as a panellist on Have I Got News For You (BBC ONE).
MIRANDA has also featured in the film Magicians starring MITCHELL & WEBB. Radio appearances include: Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive (BBC Radio 4), The 99p Challenge (BBC Radio 4) and her own sketch show Miranda Hart’s House Party (BBC Radio 4).
Miranda’s current Radio 2 sitcom Miranda Hart’s Joke Shop has been commissioned for a TV series for BBC TWO and will begin filming next year.
KATY WIX BIOGRAPHY
A successful comedy actress, KATY is soon to be seen in the forthcoming Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder (ITV1). Other recent credits include the acclaimed satirical series Headcases (ITV1) and the brand new series of Torchwood (BBC TWO).
Katy is one half of female comedy duo Penny Spubb with fellow comedienne ANNA CRILLY. Their show Penny Spubb's Party debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and received nominations for The Writers Guild Award and The Best Double Act. The duo have gone on to appear in both series of Comedy Shuffle (BBC Three) and Comedy Cuts (ITV 1), and are currently in production for their brand new BBC Radio 2 show.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
The series is directed by NICK WOOD and produced by JAMIE RIX. The show is written by LEE MACK, with ANDREW COLLINS, SIMON DEAN, DARIN HENRY and DANIEL PEAK.
Executive Producers are RICHARD ALLEN-TURNER, LEE MACK and JON THODAY.
AVALON TELEVISION
Avalon Television is one of the leading producers of award-winning comedy and light entertainment programmes in the UK. Founded in 1993, the independent production house supplies television programming to all the British terrestrial channels and the leading cable and satellite stations, in addition to content for radio broadcasters.
Recent television productions include: the double-BAFTA and British Comedy Award-winning Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1); Al Murray’s Happy Hour (ITV1) - the British Comedy Award winning peak-time entertainment show; the forthcoming Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder (ITV1); the acclaimed Touch Me I’m Karen Taylor (BBC THREE); the Rose d’Or award-winning Kombat Opera Presents (BBC TWO), a series of contemporary musical comedies from the creator of the multi-award-winning hit musical Jerry Springer - The Opera, with collaborators including STEWART LEE, DAVE GORMAN and TERRY JONES; a feature-length documentary, written by and starring DAVE GORMAN, entitled Unchained America (More 4); Laura, Ben and Him, a multi-character sketch show for ITV2 written by and starring hotly-tipped new writer performers LAURA SOLON, BEN WILLBOND and MAREK LARWOOD; You Can Choose Your Friends (ITV1) - a 90-minute comedy-drama starring the late ANTON RODGERS and JULIA McKENZIE; a prime-time reality format in the US called Wake Up Call (ABC Network); and The Greg Behrendt Show, a first-run syndication show in the USA produced by Avalon Television and Sony.
Avalon Television also produces radio, with recent projects including: series six of Out To Lunch (BBC Radio 2), a comedy show for Saturday afternoons hosted by RUSSELL KANE - featuring some of the finest up-and-coming comic talent currently working in the UK; a fifth series of DAVID BADDIEL’S acclaimed BBC Radio 4 comic-discussion show, Heresy; series three of Banter (BBC Radio 4), hosted by Sony Award-winning ANDREW COLLINS, a comedy panel show in which the guests including RICHARD HERRING and RUSSELL HOWARD are asked to hammer out Top Threes in categories covering anything from playwrights to Playstation; series two of Political Animal (BBC Radio 4), a socio-political satire show, hosted and linked by ANDY ZALTZMAN and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (More 4) regular JOHN OLIVER; and the forthcoming BBC Radio 2 series written by and starring ANNA CRILLY and KATY WIX.
