Not Going Out is back on our screens tonight on BBC One at 9 pm for its 14th season and 101st episode, but did you know the BBC axed it after only three series before changing its mind?
Yep, bizarrely, the BBC dropped the show in 2009 after its third run, despite the fact that Lee Mack's comedy was pulling in millions of viewers and had clearly found its feet.
Mack's then co-writer Andrew Collins wrote on his blog [quotes via Chortle]: "BBC One have indeed cancelled the award-winning sitcom Not Going Out. This is very sad news, and something of a surprise, as we went out with our highest ever audience figure for the last show, 'Marriage', and critics seem to have been much kinder to the third series. Plus, we'd run in some new writers and I personally think it was a strong series.”
So what saved the show?
It's believed that a combination of strong DVD sales for the third series and a petition by fans saved it. Note to fans, petitions can work!
Lee Mack once told Den of Geek that he felt there was a breakthrough in series 3 as the show started to enter the public consciousness.
He said: "Series three, something happened, which I think in the industry they call 'breaking through' or 'the tipping point'. I thought something's changed. Bear in mind when you write a sitcom, you barely go out of the house for four months.
"So you don’t know how well it’s going. Then suddenly, one day you finally get a day out with your family, in a packed public place, and you realise it’s having an impact. People start mentioning the name of the characters and stuff. That was the time when it was a shock to be cancelled."
It's true, Not Going Out really did get going in series 3. I especially love episode 5 "Neighbour", which makes our best Not Going Out episodes list. Tim ends up taking steroids and knocking out Tim and Lucy's annoying loud music-playing neighbour!
How long will Not Going Out go on for?
Well, Not Going Out is already the longest-running sitcom currently on air, chalking up its 100th episode with the 2023 Christmas special. And Lee tells us he has no plans to stop yet.
"We’re tantalisingly close to having more episodes than My Family and Birds of a Feather [which notched up 120 and 129, respectively], but nowhere near Last of the Summer Wine, which had 295. Thank God it has so many, because otherwise I’d be trying to get to No 1!"
Not Going Out stars its 14th series tonight [Friday, June 13] on BBC One at 9 pm.
