Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Tony Gardner, Colin McFarlane, Samantha Spiro, Joselyn Jee Esien, Katie Redford, Jolyon Coy, Gwyneth Powell, Joe Wilkinson, Stephanie Langton, Anil Desai, Max Pattison, Francesca Newman, Finley Southby, Max Willis, Rich Keeble.
It may be a huge claim, but few have scaled such a height in British television comedy that they can be compared so favourably to the legendary, and beloved Tony Hancock.
Not in terms of mannerisms or full on impact on the national comedy psyche, but in terms of timing, pacing, commitment to the influence that comedy can provide, and the scale of ability to bring together a troupe of characters together that can be measured against the likes that surrounded the grand man of East Cheam and Railway Cuttings; thus steps forward the exaggerated persona of Lee Mack in Not Going Out, and the sometimes socially painful, but never the less superbly observed and funny, predicaments he, his family, and his friends, often find themselves in.
A bold statement of one the nation’s most enjoyed television creations, but one none the less that is deserved as the latest series of Not Going Out finds perhaps its true meaning of life, and one that is coupled with perhaps its biggest loss.
There might not be any closely tied Sid James figure in the series, but that doesn’t hinder the comparison, and it is testament to Lee Mack that his presence, along with the excellent Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, and in series past the joy that Bobby Ball brought to the dynamic as Lee’s dysfunctional father (perhaps the closest contrast to Mr. James), which makes it one of the great sit-coms of the 21st Century.
A series of highs which drew on the influence of films such as Rear Window, and Twelve Angy Men, which also has its own roots as loving pastiche in a Hancock Half Hour, and ones that proves that even after ninety episodes, has reached such a standard that it is almost impossible for the fan to imagine a time in which the cast completely walk away from it.
In the sad loss of Bobby Ball, the show had to rebound quickly, and is to the great skill of Geoffrey Whitehead that the elder statesman, but nevertheless often seen as the authority figure of ridicule has been pushed faithfully to the fore; once the foil of his in law, he has been allowed to truly show his acting chops of beautiful self-mockery, and that has never been clearer than in the season’s final episode of Tent.
It could also be argued that Abigail Cruttenden also gives Lee’s character a run for his money in terms of snide put downs and the reflection of the overtly snobbish disdain she has for her husband’s friend, and in the brilliantly drawn episode of Text, she rises to the occasion with an air of superb contempt.
All good things must end, and a respected comedy series is just as prone to seeing its final days counted down, but in a time when comedy is short on delivery, when life is at times bleak and uncertain, Not Going Out should be given the opportunity to emulate the true masters of the genre, for in Lee Mack and the assorted, magnificent, characters around him, there is a diamond worth preserving.
Ian D. Hall