Not Going Out's Lee Mack and Sally Bretton reflect on 100 episodes

Speaking to Radio Times magazine, Mack and Bretton reflect on 100 episodes of the beloved sitcom.

Lee Mack

Not many sitcoms make it to 100 episodes. Can you remember how the show began?

Lee Mack: I was doing a sketch show at the Fringe in Edinburgh with Catherine Tate and Dan Antopolski. There was a thought I had that wasn’t even a joke – me looking out of a window with a telescope, my wife walks in and I suddenly look up to the stars. In other words, what the hell was I looking at? At best mildly amusing, not a sketch but an idea, so I parked it. Then I had another and another and the sketch grew into a quarter of the show and then became a pilot.

You had a couple of leading women before Sally Bretton joined the cast as Lucy — what made her your perfect foil?

LM: Catherine was in the pilot, but she was so busy – we were shooting next to a school and all the kids in the playground were shouting, "Am I bothered?" Megan [Dodds] was great in series one, but she felt it wasn’t her thing. Studio-based sitcom isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Sally can deliver a gag. Plus, she’s got bucket-loads of likeability.

Looking back over 100 episodes, what have been the highs and lows?

LM: Bobby Ball [who played Lee’s dad] was both the high and the low. Bob passing away was a big low, but it was a big high when he turned up in the first place. He was one of my comedy heroes as a kid. He was just pure funny. My first performance was impersonating him to get laughs at a new school.

Did you plan the 100th episode to be something special? Why do it at Christmas?

LM: The fact that it’s arrived at Christmas is a coincidence. We wanted to celebrate the 100th with my 100-year-old aunt coming round on her birthday and having a nasty mishap. Then, when we realised it was Christmas, we thought that wasn’t very festive – better make it Father Christmas instead.

What are your own festive family traditions?

LM: I do the cooking. I become the chef and really take over. We’ve also got 20 people coming round on Boxing Day, so I’ll be cooking two dinners. I find it stressful, but I’m determined to do it.

How will you be marking the start of 2024?

LM: This year, I’ll actually be on stage in Steven Moffat’s play The Unfriend at Wyndham’s Theatre in London, folks.

Any other plans for the new year?

LM: More 1% Club, more Would I Lie to You? and, for the first year in a long time, I won’t be doing Not Going Out. If we do bring it back, we’re looking at early 2025.

Sally is also starring in Beyond Paradise this Christmas with Kris Marshall — how does that make you feel?

LM: I love the fact that Sal is now Mrs BBC. I’m a fan of Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise. I’m a stand-up doing acting, but she’s the proper actor, and it’s nice to see people recognise that.

Sally Bretton

How did you come to be Lee’s significant other?

Sally Bretton: At the time, I was doing a lot of comedy. I’d done The Office and Green Wing, but I’d never seen Not Going Out, so I watched it and laughed so much. It was quite an intimidating audition, but Lee was warm, funny and encouraging. I think I played it quite posh at the beginning and that’s why I kept being called back. It was just callback after callback, and eventually I got it.

Did you expect to be in the show 93 episodes and 12 series later?

SB: No! I think the most I’d ever done before that was two series.

What has kept you coming back?

SB: The belly laughs. I think when you’re at school you belly laugh a lot, then when you grow up you laugh but it’s not the same. When I go to work with Lee, I belly laugh on a regular basis.

Anything you don’t enjoy?

SB: Lee is good at finding your weak spots and then just dropping them into the performance as a sort of in-joke – you have to dig your fingernails in to avoid cracking up.

Do you have any input on storylines now that you know your character so well?

SB: No. Lee and Danny [co-writer Daniel Peak] are very tight on the scripts. I used to worry that if I told anecdotes about my own home life they might find their way into the script, but they haven’t… yet.

How festive is the 100th episode?

SB: Very. More than any of the others, this is like a theatrical farce. It involves all the cast – Abigail, Geoffrey, Hugh, Deborah and the kids – and it just sort of gathers pace and drama – and there’s Santa. That’s what I really enjoyed about it.

You’re ruling Christmas this year with Not Going Out and Beyond Paradise specials — how does that feel?

SB: I’m really thrilled. Of course, we filmed the Not Going Out special in April and Beyond Paradise in August, at the height of summer, so it didn’t feel like Christmas when we made them.

How different is the Beyond Paradise Christmas episode from Not Going Out?

SB: They’re so different. They both have loads of warmth and likeable characters that you care about, but Beyond Paradise is a gentler ride. While there is a puzzle to solve and crimes take place, it’s a warmer watch, all about giving. The mystery gives Paradise a story arc, while Not Going Out… well, you just have to buckle in.

How will you be spending this Christmas? I’ll be celebrating at home with family.

SB: We probably won’t be watching the King’s Speech, but otherwise very traditional.

What will you gather round the TV to watch?

SB: The 1% Club and Death in Paradise to keep both my on-screen husbands happy!

Not Going Out's 2023 Christmas special airs on Christmas Eve (Sunday 24th December) at 10pm on BBC One.

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