Not Going Out star Lee Mack has spoken about Tim Vine's departure from the much-loved comedy, which hits 100 with this year's Christmas special.
Tim starred in the very first series of Not Going Out as Timothy Gladstone Adams, the ex-boyfriend of Lee's flatmate Kate (Megan Dodds). In series two Tim's sister Lucy (Sally Bretton) became Lee's new flatmate and the trio featured in many of Not Going Out's best episodes.
But Tim Vine departed the show at the end of series five and, bar a cameo, he hasn’t been seen since in the series, which recently aired its 13th season. Tim Vine's not the only person to leave the show, with Miranda Hart also departing as calamitous cleaner Barbara and Timothy West leaving as Lucy's grumpy dad, a role now played by Geoffrey Whitehead.
Asked why Tim Vine left, Lee jokingly said: "Because he’s an idiot, that’s why." Adding: "No, Tim had other things he wanted to do like his stand-up. It's very hard to be a stand-up in a sitcom. Tim and I did a sketch show together, which was when we first started working together, and we used to enjoy these odd scenes standing at the bar, talking through the gags, so I thought it would be nice to bring that bar scene thing back.
"Then it became a running theme but eventually Tim wanted to do his own thing. It's very hard as a stand-up to focus on other people's jokes. You want to write your own jokes, not say what other people have written for you."
He continued: “We have been very lucky. The cast has been great. We’ve had so many great people. Some of it has been enforced, like when Tim wanted to leave the show and also Miranda Hart was doing her own thing, so she left too. Timothy West was also in it, playing Sal's dad, but he decided he didn’t want to do that as well as EastEnders.
"At the time it was quite hard but I realise now that we’ve been going so long that it was actually a bit of a blessing because it meant that the show was constantly evolving and changing and didn’t go stale. So, we were quite lucky in a way that people couldn’t work with me!"
As to the future of the show and whether there will be another 100 episodes, Lee said: "Well, I’m not sure about another 100 but discussions are ongoing now and we will be back to you shortly with more information. I'd love to do more, and I love doing it. It's great fun and I love the cast. But it's not always my decision about these things. I just wait for someone to say: 'Here’s a bag of money, get on with it!'."
The Not Going Out Christmas special 2023 will air on BBC One on Christmas Eve at 10 pm. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer. See our Christmas TV guide for more shows to enjoy.
