About "Not Going Out"

Not Going Out is a BBC1 sitcom created by BAFTA winning comic Lee Mack and Sony Award winning writer and broadcaster Andrew Collins.

The title 'Not Going Out' is a reference to the premise of the first series - namely two people spending most of their evenings in and, also, not dating each other.

The first series of the sitcom was based Lee (Lee Mack) and Kate (Megan Dodds). The pair found their easy-going, comfortable friendship steadily moving into uncharted waters - a situation complicated by the fact that Lee's best mate, Tim (fellow BAFTA winner and stand-up, Tim Vine), was Kate's ex-boyfriend.

Unburdened by ambition or drive, Lee drifts from one ill-advised job to another, living off the goodwill and generosity of his landlady, Kate, a clean living Californian. Kate is determined to push Lee into making something of his life - whilst also trying to coax him into eating some of her disgustingly-healthy homemade food. Meanwhile, uptight accountant Tim, struggled to get over his break-up with Kate and cope with her rapidly blossoming friendship with Lee.

Filmed in front of a live studio audience, Not Going Out is characterised by its fast paced delivery of jokes. Many have compared it to watching "a stand-up show set in a living room". A lot of the humour is based on wordplay and double entendres delivered in a deadpan manner; there is also elements of slapstick and visual gags.

The audience reaction to the first series was, in the main, very favourable. The success of the series was recognised by the industry with an RTS award for the writers and the comedy being awarded a coveted Rose d'Or. The reaction, coupled with the growing audience figures towards the end of the series made sure that BBC1 gave Not Going Out the re-commission it so deserved. In fact, the BBC were obviously pretty pleased with the first series as they asked Avalon Television for an extended second season (seven episodes plus a Christmas special).

As Megan Dodds decided not to appear in the second series the creators made a major cast change. Sally Bretton (Green Wing, The Office) was brought in as the replacement - she plays Tim's ambitious sister Lucy.

Co-writer Andrew Collins told us: "Megan Dodds brought a lot to the first series. We hadn't even written Kate as an American, Megan just proved the best at the auditions, and we went back and developed her character accordingly. We're delighted with the way she helped launch the series, and hope that audiences respond well to Sally in the new female role."

Andrew and Lee added two additional characters to the new series: Lucy's sophisticated boyfriend Guy (Simon Dutton) and Barbara, the flat's clumsy cleaner. The character of Barbara was written with Miranda Hart in mind following her scene-stealing performance as the acupuncturist in the first series of Not Going Out (the writers have not connected the two roles on screen - they've left it for the viewers who have spotted the link to decide the character's back story for themselves).

The premise of the second series was that Kate had moved back to America. Unable to buy the flat due to his enduring inability to earn a steady income, Lee is forced to rent the spare room from the flat's new owner - Tim's ambitious younger sister Lucy.

Unsurprisingly, the arrangement turns out to be far from perfect. Sibling rivalry turns into full-on anxiety as Tim quickly becomes suspicious of Lee's feelings for his kid sister, whilst Lucy grows more and more worried about her brother's inability to get an acceptable girlfriend - or a promotion. To top it all, happy-go-lucky Lee starts to seriously question the suitability (and age) of his new flatmate's boyfriend - the debonair entrepreneur Guy.

As the eight episodes of the second season had to be written and filmed in a short space of time, Avalon Television hired Nick Stacey, Paul Kerensa and Simon Evans to help Mack and Collins with the writing. Mack, Collins and Stacey concentrated on writing the main body of the episodes whilst Kerensa and Evans were involved in storylining, rewriting and 'gagging up' the episodes. As the BBC were keen to begin broadcasting the new series in September deadlines were very tight - in fact episodes were still being filmed at Teddington Studios well into October - the series having begun broadcast on September 7th.

We asked co-writer Andrew Collins about the production of the new episodes. He told us: "It's been challenging but rewarding writing the second series, simply because there is a new kind of pressure. We've been granted a second bite of the cherry by BBC1 and we want to prove that they have made a wise decision!"

Andrew went on to add: "It'll be tough to get past the affection people always feel for a first series. But by bringing in new characters, while keeping to the basic set-up, we've mixed things up a bit, and it's given us a new dynamic to play with: Lee now has a job - he's an ice cream man - so it's less about him getting a job, more about him trying to improve his status, impress his new flatmate. Also, by bringing in Lucy, we suddenly understand Tim a bit better - the eldest son, he's actually been a disappointment to his parents, while his younger sister, who's been out in Zurich getting on in the business world, is their favourite. This colours his relationship with Lucy. He's jealous of her, and she thinks he's an underachiever, working as an accountant for the council."

"We're all pretty pleased with the way the scripts have turned out. When the cast did live read-throughs in front of an invited audience at a small theatre in August, the results were excellent. This gave us a real shot in the arm. The fact that the transmission date has been pulled forward just means that we'll be filming and editing while the finished episodes are going out. I'm glad I'm not in the edit suite!"

We have received a number of enquiries about the theme tune of the show - it's written by director Alex Hardcastle and sung by a performer who impersonated Frank Sinatra in Rat Pack, the West End show (if anyone knows his name please let us know).

With the second series having gained audiences of 3-4 million the BBC announced in late November that they had given the go ahead for a new eight part third series, which will air in 2008. Lucy Lumsden, the BBC controller of comedy commissioning said the show was a "perfect home" for Mack's "gag-drenched style".

The first series is now available on DVD

More About The Cast

As well as being an award-winning live performer, audiences will know Lee Mack from The Sketch Show, which ran on ITV1 for two series. Mack went on to work alongside Kelsey Grammer in an American version of The Sketch Show, which aired in a primetime slot immediately before The Simpsons. He also written and starred in the Sony Radio Award nominated and immediately recommissioned BBC Radio 2 programme The Lee Mack Show; hosted the last series of They Think It's All Over; and headlined on Jack Dee Live at the Apollo.

Tim Vine, who plays Lee's best mate, also co-starred with Lee Mack in both series of The Sketch Show. He is also a TV host, having devised and presented Fluke, a Rose d'Or Award nominated Channel 4 show. Vine also became the first man to appear on Channel Five when presenting quiz show Whittle. Tim has also starred in The Tim Vine Christmas Present, Saturday Live and The Stand Up Show. Most impressively Vine is a Guinness World Record Holder for "Telling The Most Jokes in an Hour" - smashing the previous record with a total of 499 jokes!

Television, film and stage actress, Megan Dodds played Lee's flatmate Kate in the first series. She is best known for her role as Christine Dale in series two and three of the hit spy drama Spooks (known as MI5 in America). In fact she has become a regular on UK screens since moving here in 1997 - her other appearances include Viva Blackpool.

Sally Bretton plays Lucy. She had a number of minor roles in films and TV before appearing as Donna in the hit BBC1 sitcom The Office. This lead on to regular roles in a number of British sitcoms, including Absolute Power, Green Wing and Blessed.

Simon Dutton, who plays Guy, best known for playing the title role of Simon Templar (alias The Saint) in a series of Australian-produced television films in 1989. His other TV credits include The Professionals, By the Sword Divided, Robin of Sherwood, Bergerac, Lovejoy, Holby City and New Tricks.

Sitcom regular Miranda Hart plays the new flat cleaner. Her long list of TV comedy credits include Hyperdrive in which she has a starring role as Diplomatic Officer Teal.