Lee Mack has hinted that Not Going Out will be ending after the Christmas special. This certainly seemed to be the case as the sitcom seemed to reach a natural ending with Lee and Lucy getting married in an epic episode. There is now uncertainty is we now await an announcement in the near future from Mack or the BBC about the future of the show.
Series One:
It seems an age since Not Going Out first aired in 2006 with Lee Mack, Tim Vine and Megan Dodds the main cast for the first series. This was when the famous dynamic friendship between Lee and Tim was aired. The series also established a “Will they?/Won’t they?” dynamic between Lee and Kate. As Mack referenced in his autobiography, the series aired at a time when the traditional studio audience sitcom was seen as dead and NGO was one of the first sitcoms to bring back that format which has lead to other successful studio sitcoms since. Despite the fact that their format was seen as dead at the time, the viewing figures were good. The series itself was decent enough but there were too be lots of changes ahead.
Series Two:
There were lots of cast changes for the second series. Out went Megan Dodds (Kate) and in came Sally Bretton (Lucy), Miranda Hart (Barbara) and Simon Dutton who appeared in this series only as Lucy’s boyfriend Guy. Katy Wix also appeared in a couple of episodes in this series as the dim witted Daisy who would play a recurring role from the third series onwards. The main storyline of this series was Lee attempting to sabotage Guy and Lucy’s relationship which eventually worked in the episode “Gangster”. Some critics say that this was the worst series but in my opinion they did a very good job considering the circumstances. There were many Changes for this series and the writing team needed to introduce the new characters to the audience and allow them to get used to them as the series went on. Plus Lee and the writing team were set ridiculous deadlines by the BBC as all most of the episodes were filmed, edited and broadcast on TV the same week which must have meant very tight deadlines for the writers. Lee has also said in interviews that Series Two was like starting again which shows that the less said about Series One the better.
Series Three:
This in my opinion is where Not Going Out changed. Mack referred in his autobiography that he felt the show had “broken through”. I definitely agree with this as there was increased interest in the show. The quality of the episodes and gags were increasing which made episodes such as “Winner”, “Neighbour” and “Speach” all the more enjoyable to watch. This is why it is still baffling to this day why the BBC chose to cancel it at the end of this series. The increased interest was clearly evident as an online petition was launched to recommission the sitcom. The BBC eventually saw their mistake and recommission end it due to a combination of the petition and strong DVD sales.
Series Four:
The effect that the cancellation and the subsequent U-turn had on the interest of Not Going Out was very clear as the first episode of the fourth series got 4.75m viewers which was a huge jump from figures in previous series. The quality of the episodes were also getting better and better and the whole series was a step up from series three, just like series three was a step up from series two. The episodes “Drugs”, “Debbie” and “Fireworks” were brilliant episodes which warranted the viewing figures they got. This in my opinion was the series where the main cast stabilised with Lee Mack, Sally Bretton, Tim Vine and Katy Wix becoming the core part of the show. They were becoming more likeable and popular as the show was becoming more and more popular which shows what a huge mistake the BBC made in cancelling it.
Series Five:
Up to this point this is the best series. Six equally funny and entertaining episodes that made me laugh so much and that I would happily watch all over again. The quality of this series also made it impossible for the BBC to cancel it again. The viewing figures for this series reached their peak at 5.33m for the episode “Drunk” and never went below 4.75m. The show was now red hot in interest and popularity.
Series Six:
This series was dealt a blow before it was even written when Tim Vine quit. Understandably the quality of the episodes and jokes dipped as the original dynamic between Lee and Tim was gone. However this allowed Lee Mack and the writers to further develop the “Will they?/Won’t they?” Tension between Lee and Lucy, the episodes “Therapy”, “Conference”, “Rachel” and “Play” helped build this tension further. “Rabbit” was a terrific start to the series and even though the quality dipped afterwards, the other episodes were still funny. Never the less the team did a good job in Tim’s absence.
Series Seven:
This series was quite honestly brilliant! All of the episodes in this series were good, some were outstanding. The episodes “Mugging”, “Donor”, “Anna”, “Pointless”, “Lucy” and of course “Wedding” were some of the best episodes that have ever been written. The episodes “Lucy” and “Wedding” are the best pieces of writing Lee Mack will probably ever do. The introduction of Toby (Hugh Dennis) and Anna (Abigail Cruttenden) were welcomed because there needed to be a replacement for Tim Vine and the character of Toby was perfect. Everybody that was involved in the casting of Hugh Dennis as Toby all deserve a medal because he has been such an entertaining character in this series contributing to the many great episodes in this series. The highlight of this series was obviously Lee and Lucy finally getting together in “Lucy” and getting married in “Wedding” which saw the brilliant return of Tim Vine and a few guest stars from previous episodes. An indication of the shows’s popularity was that after “Wedding”, Not Going Out was trending on Twitter as many viewers realised that this could be it for the hit sitcom. This series showed why Not Going Out is one of the best sitcoms ever made.
Most sitcoms only last three series but Not Going Out has done seven series whilst still remaining fresh and entertaining which shows why it is one of the best sitcoms Britain has ever produced. Most NGO fans including myself hope that it will return for at least one more series as it will be interesting to see what Lee and Lucy are like as a married couple. However there is a risk of dragging it out until no one cares anymore which no one wants to happen. “Wedding” was the perfect ending to end a sitcom, you will struggle to find a better ending than that. So if this is the end of Not Going Out it has gone out with a bang with superb writing and great acting.
The BBC have some serious thinking to do. Now that Miranda has now ended and Mrs Browns Boys seemingly becoming a seasonal sitcom, Would the BBC be willing to let Not Going Out go? Because if I was in charge of Comedy at the BBC, I wouldn’t be confident having Citizen Khan and Big School as the main sitcoms.
Lastly a big Thank you to Lee Mack, Sally Bretton, Katy Wix, Tim Vine, Bobby Ball, Geoffrey Whitehead, Deborah Grant, Miranda Hart, Megan Dodds, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Timothy West, all the guest stars in every episode and the writing and production team for making the show what it is today.
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