Lee Mack lied to fellow comedy star to keep Inside No. 9 episode secret

Viewers were expecting to watch an episode set on a No. 9 bus, but were instead treated to an apparent episode of a new gameshow called 3 by 3, hosted by Mack – although it was of course a brilliantly twisted instalment of Inside No. 9 after all.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com at the National Television Awards 2023, Mack revealed that he had to lie to fellow comedian Tim Key (This Time with Alan Partridge, The Witchfinder) to avoid giving the game away.

"It was very secretive – the hardest thing was actually keeping it quiet," he explained.

"Me and Steve Pemberton went out that night with Tim Key, and they're good mates and I know Tim quite well, but we weren't allowed to tell him. We had this weird conversation where I had to pretend to be doing something else – lying to him.

"I said I was doing a real quiz show, and he said, 'Who for? Don't you already do one?' And then I got worried that other people would find out and then I shouldn't be doing another quiz show because I'm already doing one. It's very messy."

Elsewhere, asked about the future of Not Going Out, Mack remained tight-lipped but revealed that they are "having conversations" about more episodes of the BBC sitcom.

Mack was attending this year's NTAs as a nominee in the Quiz Game Show category for hosting The 1% Club – and not 3 by 3...

Read more:

• Inside No. 9's Reece Shearsmith writing last episode: 'Feels strange and sad'
• Inside No. 9 creators explain spin-off idea that never happened

Inside No. 9 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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