Not Going Out is now the longest running sitcom on-air. 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/relentless onslaught of bringing up kids? If this wasn’t enough for them to contend with, combine it with negotiating some tricky family members in the form of lovably feckless father, Frank (Bobby Ball), 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 uptight ice-queen Anna (Abigail Cruttenden). At least Lucy’s more dependable parents are on hand, but what exactly do Geoffrey (Geoffrey Whitehead) and Wendy (Deborah Grant) make of Lee and Lucy’s often mad house?

Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning says: “Lee has evolved this rich comic world from bachelorhood through marriage and now parenthood very seamlessly in this new incarnation. Not Going Out has become a modern classic, joining a very elite club of long running, much loved BBC studio sitcoms, following on from the legacy of Dad’s Army, Only Fools & Horses and ‘Allo, ‘Allo.”

Lee Mack says: “When we started I thought it might run for just one or two series. I started the show in my 30s and currently I’ll still be doing it in my 50s, even if we don’t do any more after that. But I’ll do it as long as I’m asked because I actually like doing it. I know you’re supposed to do it the traditional way, of doing six episodes, then maybe another six, and finish and call yourself a classic – but I like to really drag it out! I’ll do it to death.”

The new series will begin on January 13th, 2017 on BBC1.