Lee Mack reveals Christmas special

Lee Mack’s BBC One sitcom Not Going Out is to return for a Christmas special.

It had been thought that the last Christmas episode, in which Mack’s character finally marries his landlady, played by Sally Bretton, would have been the last.

But speaking on Alan Carr: Chatty Man, last night, Mack said: ‘We’re coming back for a Christmas special this year of Not Going Out.

‘Last Christmas we got married, and everyone thought that was the end of the show. Everyone kept telling me it had ended apparently - like commissioners and things - but we are coming back for a Christmas special.’

When the 2014 Christmas Eve special aired, Mack suggested it was the end of the line, saying: ‘For the last eight years Not Going Out has dominated my life. It takes about six months a year to write and two or three months to film, the bulk of the year. It’s time for a little downtime now.’

But when Carr asked him why he changed his mind, Mack said: ‘I never killed it off completely - I said I might not do any more… I thought, “Do I never do it again, or do I carry on doing it?” I was so undecided I thought “I’ll just do a Christmas special and put off the decision to next year.’

Last Christmas’s episode also saw the surprise return of Tim Vine, who had left the show two series previously and been replaced by Hugh Dennis, playing Lee’s new neighbour.

The sitcom, which began in 2006, also stars Katy Wix, Bobby Ball, Geoffrey Whitehead and Deborah Grant.

Published: 9 May 2015