Huge BBC sitcom to return to screens a lot sooner than fans may think
Lee Mack's popular BBC sitcom is set to return to screens very soon, just weeks after the comedian and actor revealed plans for the future of Not Going Out to the Mirror
A huge BBC sitcom is returning to screens in the very near future. Not Going Out, created by actor and comedian Lee Mack, will return for series 14 soon, two years after the latest series. The show, first released almost two decades ago follows Lee's self-titled character and his best friend's sister, Lucy (played by Sally Bretton), who he also lives with.
Over the years, fans of the huge series saw Lee and Lucy grow close, with many glued to their ongoing relationship, which has taken centre stage in recent years. During the finale of series seven, the couple eventually tied the knot just before they welcomed a child together.
However, series eight catapulted the family eight years into the future as it documented their rather chaotic life with three children. But the upcoming series will also see a major change as Lucy and Lee have become empty nesters and moved out of their family home.
Although the upcoming series is set to return next month, it's also been confirmed that the programme has been recommissioned for a fifteenth series of six episodes, which will air on screens next year. In the first episode of the upcoming series, fans will see Lucy and Lee move house, but one of the vendors at a viewing takes an issue with them using the toilet.
In the second instalment, Lee brings a box home from the local tip, but in a rather odd twist, it turns out the box contains a robotic sex doll. But things get even worse in episode four of the upcoming series with Lucy and Lee having a falling out over the dramatic online queue for Oasis tickets earlier this year.
When Lee and Lucy lose their place in the long online queue, they start to blame each other. Though some might say that Lee is definitely, maybe to blame for this one…
But in true form to their chaos, things take a massive leap in the final episode when they become TV extras on another TV show. Speaking about the new series, Lee said: "I am delighted that the BBC are once again showing such great support for studio sitcoms.
"It's a genre I've always loved and to be able to be part of it myself for so many years is both a privilege and an excuse not to have to shop, as I always take the underpants they give me home."
The update comes after Lee opened up to the Mirror about his hectic schedule over the next few months. "More 1% Club coming up this year," he revealed. "More Would I Lie To You? and then more Not Going Out – so it's the same as it has been for the last 17 years," Lee laughed before adding: "And now, more Soccer Aid, which is added to the list of things I do every year. But my immediate thing is Soccer Aid, I've just got to stay on the treadmill.
"Every year, without this, I wouldn't do any exercise. Every year I go 'Right, I've got to get fit,' so a few years ago, I bought a treadmill and every year it gets later and later. Last year, I think I went on it the night before." This year, Lee is returning to Soccer Aid for UNICEF for the eighth time.
Speaking about being called up for the World XI squad again, Lee said: "I assume every year they're not going to ask me back so it's very exciting when I get the call. I am at that age where I do think after each one, even if they ask me I better say no because it takes months and months to feel better again.
"But when the call comes and says 'Do you want to do it?' I always go 'Yeah, definitely.'" But he teased that each year he's the "oldest outfield player" so he has to deal with physical ailments each year. Lee joked that his job is essentially a "goal hanger". But he soon realised when he first started playing Soccer Aid that he can't stay in one spot on the pitch, "it's exhausting," he joked.
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