Lee Mack: I want to give Bobby Ball a funeral on Not Going Out

With Tommy Cannon as the priest

Lee Mack plans to give Bobby Ball a fitting send-off in the next series of Not Going Out - with Tommy Cannon leading the honours.

The stand-up is planning a funeral for Ball’s character Frank in the sitcom, with a congregation of comic from his generation as the mourners.

Ball’s real funeral in Lytham, near Blackpool, in November, was a relatively subdued affair as Covid restrictions limited the size of the ceremony. Yet still hundreds of fans line the route to say goodbye.

Now Mack says he could stage a fictional farewell for the star, who played his dad in the show,

‘I’m thinking of starting the next series with a funeral,’ he told The Sun. ‘And Tommy, I’m thinking of having him as the priest, and also bring some comics of that generation.

‘Bring in all his mates, as in my dad’s mates, who I’ve never met. That will be the story

‘I want to see a scene which opens up with Sid Little, Freddie "Parrot-Face" Davies and the like, all just sitting round. It would be marvellous.’

When Ball died with Covid in October, Mack called him a ‘childhood comedy hero’ and said: ‘I’m utterly shocked and devastated to lose my mate Bobby like this.’

Ball would have turned 77 on Thursday, and Cannon tweeted an affectionate commemoration:

It would of been my best buddy’s 77th birthday today... miss you mate, have a scotch up there for me ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qTFbEMw1EM
— Tommy Cannon (@TheTommyCannon) January 28, 2021