Mistletoe & crime

Feuding neighbours Chris McCausland and Lee Mack join forces to battle burglars in a new Christmas caper

- REBECCA MAHONEY

PREVIEW COMEDY

Bad Tidings Coming soon, Sky Max

When TV&Satellite Week arrives on set at Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire, we’re directed to a makeshift dressing room where Lee Mack and Chris McCausland are taking a break from filming their new comedy Bad Tidings.

Co-written by McCausland and Ghosts creators Laurence Rickard and Martha Howe-Douglas, and due to air this Christmas, the one-off special follows belligerent home-security expert Neil (Mack), whose relentless feud with his blind neighbour, Scott (McCausland), ends up triggering a power cut in their Stockport cul-de-sac and forcing the entire street to relocate for Christmas.

As Neil and Scott agree to stay behind to keep watch, a notorious crime family helmed by the fearsome Stacey Brennan (Rebekah Staton) spies an opportunity. Can the squabbling pair join forces to stop the Brennans ransacking all the houses on their street?

Here, Not Going Out star Mack, 56, and Strictly Come Dancing favourite McCausland, 47, give us a heads-up on what we can expect this Christmas…

How did you both get involved in this cracking festive comedy?