Trials and tribulations of modern family life
THE multi-award-winning hit sitcom returns to BBC One – but with a few big (or small) additions, not to mention a new ‘sit’ for the ‘com’.
After 10 years, Not Going Out is now the longest-running BBC sitcom on air, and writer and star Lee Mack returns with a new take on family life and major new additions to the chaotic world of Lee and Lucy.
Viewers last saw Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) as a newlywed couple just having their first baby.
Fast-forward seven years and baby Charlie now has five year-old twin siblings, Benji and Molly. How has layabout Lee survived these dramatic life changes? How do the not-so-new parents find the joy (or relentless onslaught) of bringing up kids?
If this wasn’t enough for the hapless couple to contend with, combine it with negotiating some tricky family members in the form of Lee’s lovably feckless father Frank (Bobby Ball), who’s always on hand with the terrifying offer of childcare, and close friends including the world-weary – or more specifically, wife-weary – Toby (Hugh Dennis) and strait-laced ice queen Anna (Abigail Cruttenden).
At least Lucy’s more dependable parents are on hand to offer assistance – but what exactly do Geoffrey (Geoffrey Whitehead) and Wendy (Deborah Grant) make of Lee and Lucy’s often mad household?
Among the burning issues hubby and wife must grapple with are: Lee doing his best to get the “romance” back on track; Frank finally getting his wish to babysit the kids; Lucy and Lee loading up the car for a family holiday to France; Lee devising a “brilliant” masterplan involving Emma Bunton and a hot tub; one of the kids, very worryingly, starting to take after one of their parents (clue, it isn’t Lucy); marriage guidance making its way on to the couple’s agenda; and a decision to be made as to whether three kids really are enough...
What could possibly go wrong?