NEW beginnings

LEE MACK on how another time-hop twist signals a fresh direction for his hit sitcom

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NOT GOING OUT

NEW FRI, 9PM (TIMES VARY), BBC1 COMEDY (BOX SET, BBC IPLAYER)

Lee Mack takes a seat in front of a screen inside a cosy cinema in central London, facing the audience with a microphone in one hand and a wry smile on his face.

It's a May morning and TV Times has been invited to a special preview of the new 14th run of Not Going Out and, as the credits roll, the actor and comedian - who created, co-writes and stars in the BBC1 sitcom - is feeling a bit nervous about how it all went down.

'It's not easy showing your stuff to hardened comedy critics at 10am,' he jokes. 'But that went OK, I suppose!'

Indeed! Lee needn't have worried: he has Not Going Out down to a fine art.

Since its debut in 2006, viewers have seen his character - a fictionalised version of himself, also called Lee - evolve from a lazy bachelor to a chaotic family man. Now, the latest six-part series heralds another fresh chapter as the story fast-forwards several years to find Lee and his long-suffering wife, Lucy (played by Sally Bretton), swapping their suburban home for a countryside abode following their three children flying the nest.

Here, Lee, 56, who also helms hit ITV1 quiz The 1% Club, tells us more...

'WE'RE TANTALISINGLY CLOSE TO HAVING MORE EPISODES THAN MY FAMILY AND BIRDS OF A FEATHER'

This isn't the first time Not Going Out has seen a time hop, as Series 8 in 2017 moved the action on seven years to see how Lee and Lucy coped being parents to three young children. What inspired this jump forwards?