{"id":41605,"date":"2023-12-12T01:01:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T00:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1942358"},"modified":"2023-12-12T10:59:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T09:59:14","slug":"lee-mack-on-not-going-out-future-its-not-my-decision","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/lee-mack-on-not-going-out-future-its-not-my-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Mack on Not Going Out future: \u2018It\u2019s not my decision\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The writer\/star of the long-running BBC sitcom confirms that “discussions are ongoing”. <\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 12 December 2023 at 00:01 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Lee Mack has addressed the future of his long-running sitcom Not Going Out<\/a>, which will air its landmark 100th episode over the festive period.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a screening of the Christmas episode, Mack confirmed that \u201cdiscussions are ongoing\u201d with the BBC about more episodes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure about another 100 [episodes], but discussions are ongoing now and we will be back with you shortly with some more information, one way or the other!<\/p>\n

\u200c\u201dWe\u2019re talking about it now. I\u2019d love to do more, I love doing it, it\u2019s great fun, I love the cast but [\u2026] it\u2019s not always my decision, these things. I just wait for someone to say, \u2018There\u2019s a bag of money, get on with it.’\u201d<\/p>

First airing in 2006, Not Going Out has made a number of tweaks to its cast and format across its 13 seasons.<\/p>\n

Most notably, following a 2015 Christmas special, the show jumped forward seven years, with Lee (Mack) and wife Lucy (Sally Bretton) now parents to three children.<\/p>\n

Mack admitted that he is unsure if or how the show will undergo another revamp in the future, but did rule out the possibility of another time jump.<\/p>\n

\u200c\u201dThe truth is, I just don\u2019t know what we\u2019ll do with the future of it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve thought of various scenarios, me and Danny [Peak, series co-writer] have chatted about it, but at this stage, it\u2019s early days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hugh\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Hugh Dennis and Lee Mack in the Not Going Out Christmas special 2023.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC\/Avalon\/Pete Dadds<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

However the show reinvents itself in the future, there\u2019s one thing Mack is certain he will never ditch \u2013 filming episodes in front of a live audience.<\/p>\n

\u200c\u201dFor me, if the essence of it is there, in front of a live studio audience, that will always overpower everything else, the fact that we\u2019re in front of a live audience. I would definitely never lose that. That\u2019s the only thing that I know, 100 per cent, I would never change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 100th episode of Not Going Out sees Lee and Lucy invite a lonely pensioner from the nearby care home to join them for Christmas dinner, with Lee\u2019s efforts to put on a perfect Christmas for his family quickly going awry.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n