Not Going Out – Series Six – A Look Back

Last night the sixth series of ‘Not Going Out’ came to an end last night with final episode ‘Boat’, rounding off another run of the best sitcom currently on television.

Series six of ‘Not Going Out’ has had its struggles. The departure of main cast member Tim Vine’ prior to this run was greeted with much disappointment from the fan base and continues to be a criticism thrown at each episode on social networks, with Tim only receiving brief mentions in the opening and closing episodes.

Though series six has been a weaker series than NGO at its high points, I don’t think the absence of Vine has had much of an impact. Sure, as a big fan of Vine’s humour, puns and delivery, he was an important factor in the show and was missed, but the writing and characters were strong enough without him and I think he’ll miss the show more than the show will miss him. After all, what has Tim Vine done recently, aside from the game show last summer, that would have stopped him from contributing?

Vine’s absence did allow the supporting cast to come to the fore more, with the parents of Lucy and Bobby Ball as Lee’s dad Frank, getting more air time. Sally Bretton felt very confident as Lucy in this series and Katy Wix got much more to do this time around, enjoying the wackiness of her character.

As a series, the latest wasn’t the best in the collection – that goes to one, two or four – but it’s still funnier than most other comedies on television. Finale ‘Boat’ was one of the best episodes of the run with the confined nature of the boat allowing for the characters and situation to shine, with some of the best one-liners in the whole canon of the show, plus the best inflatable sidekick since Airplane’s Otto Pilot. It was just a shame that there wasn’t more made of two possible endings at the conclusion of the piece as it didn’t feel like an ending where Lee and Lucy got together would have fitted at the end, and it didn’t feel like the ending of a series, but still a thoroughly enjoyable episode.

Highlights of the series were definitely opener ‘Rabbit’, with its ridiculous concept but one that made for some really memorable situations such as the ‘Elephant Man’ moment; ‘Rachel’ with the uber-creepy stalking girlfriend; and concluding episode ‘Boat’ which, at times, felt like Mack was going to do a ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ with the characters. There were a few episodes that did seem like NGO was treading old ground. ‘Skiing’ successfully adapted the one-location setting made famous in sitcoms like ‘One Foot In The Grave’ but the extra cast member did seem like a retread of the prostitute character from a few series previously (“I was distinctly told that if I took my top off I wouldn’t get hit by a baseball bat”), though the use of green screen, as in ‘Boat’, showed a slightly increased budget and experimentation for the series; “Therapy” an update on “Death” from series one (one of the best episodes of the sitcom); “Conference” having shades of series two; and Simon Farnaby’s character in “Play” feeling like an echo of Duncan Duff’s eco-warrior ‘Pete’ from series one and the shop opener in ‘Magic’ seemingly from the same acting school as Andy Linden’s neighbour from series three. At times the jokes did feel a little forced but, when you’ve run for 42 episodes, there’s always going to be some familiarity.

Overall, series six wasn’t the best of ‘Not Going Out’ but there were three of the eight that will go down as some of the best episodes from the sitcom and the others had enough material to keep them going. I’m looking forward to a seventh series and just hope Lee Mack can freshen it up a little  bit and also perhaps explore an arc-style approach that proved successful in series two and, to some extent, three, to bring a cohesive feel to a collection of episodes, alongside a strong ending.

Series six might not have been classic ‘Not Going Out’ but it’s heads and shoulders above other sitcoms around at the moment and here’s me looking forward to the 50^th episode next year.

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Not Going Out – Rabbit [Review]

Though it arguably doesn’t actually have much competition for the accolade, ‘Not Going Out’ is easily the funniest sitcom around at the moment and one of the few shows that I really love that hasn’t actually been cancelled by TV executives – though it came close a few years ago.

‘Not Going Out’ follows flat mates Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) who share a flat together but share a mutual tolerance of each other, though Lee fancies Lucy, with rumours of the reverse, but they are the ‘not going out’ relationship of the title. They are joined by Daisy (Katy Wix), a ditsy hanger-on.

Now no one is ever going to say NGO is highbrow but with its heavy reliance on one-liners, puns and surreal situations, it is always funny and quick-paced and this opener of series six – an impressive number to reach in contemporary times – is no different.

If there is one thing that has defined the return of the series it’s the absence of long-time cast member Tim Vine, who played the brother of Lucy, best mate of Lee and boyfriend of Daisy. The character’s absence was dealt with quickly and succinctly right at the start of the episode – a funny touch though I was hoping for more, but it did the job and better than not referencing it – but there were many negatives circulating on the internet that the show would be doomed without him.

And, though arguably I’m a bigger fan of Vine than Mack, it was actually just as funny and well set-up without him. I miss Tim from the series with Vine’s character bringing a lot to the series but on the strength of the opener NGO will be fine without him. I fear, though, with Vine only having done a short-run gameshow and, it appears, little else on television so far, it’ll be him that misses the show more than the show misses him, but I do hope Vine does more on TV or live as he is a fantastic comedian.

Back to the show and the premise of the episode ‘Rabbit’ was typical escalating silliness as Lucy runs over a client’s rabbit and then proceeds to cover it up. Chock-full of the usual one-liners and sight gags, the cast handled the premise well, with Bretton being the main beneficiary of Vine’s absence, getting much more screen time and a chance to shine.

Some of the jokes we’ve heard before in a slightly different form, such as the name Mack picks when confronted by the angry owner, and it did occasionally seem awkward in the early minutes with the set-up and Bretton mumbling some lines, and even had a visual joke taken from ‘The Thin Blue Line’, but elsewhere there were some great set-pieces such as in the pet shop and the one-liners were up to their usual quality.

‘Rabbit’ was a strong opener and just as laugh-a-minute as previous episodes. It wasn’t one of the absolute best episodes but was still a thoroughly hilarious half hour, and proves that NGO is one of the best comedies on television at the moment and will seemingly survive the absence of one of its main characters. And with news that a seventh series has been commissioned, I’m a happy bunny. (Pardon the pun)

“I’m sorry for giving your daughter a bag full of wrong rabbit.”

(7/10)

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Jubilee Concert (4th June 2012)

As part of the general Jubilee celebrations yesterday was a three hour concert featuring, frankly, a stellar line up of artists from throughout Queen Elizabeth’s reign as well as some comedians bridging the gaps.

Overall the concert was a fantastic experience and well worth seeing, from the grand stage in front of Buckingham Palace to the great selection of British talent and some from further afield. That’s not to say it was the best start ever.

After a short performance from the Scot’s Guards that kicked it off in right Royal fashion we got Robbie Williams, surely one of Britain’s most reliable and enthusiastic entertainers, starting the show with ‘Let Me Entertain You’, both an appropriate start and a real energetic opening with musical backing from the guards adding to the music and I hope this is available to download soon. It certainly got the crowd going and it was just a shame he only had one opening number, and it also should be noted that he hit the notes of the song perfectly. Why? Because of what followed.

Is it the acoustics of the venue? Is it the sound system? Why do half of the artists sound shocking? Surely it can’t be because they can’t sing live? Well, I’m afraid it must be the latter as many of the artists showed it was neither the acoustics or the sound that was causing some to sound bad. One artist sang a song while bloody hula hooping and sounded perfect for heaven’s sake!

Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas came on next to sing their hit ‘I Gotta Feeling’ and, frankly, until Jessie J came on to rescue the song it was horrible. I admire Mr Am as a producer and rapper but he should never try singing. Especially live. It was horrible to listen to until Jessie J replaced Fergie on vocals – perhaps they were afraid of booking the wrong one, or couldn’t afford the “access” – and continued the show with a fantastic live version of ‘Domino’, a difficult song to sing but one she pulled off with aplomb. The stage, though, having previously been full of guards and string players, did seem strangely empty by this point.

JLS came on next with ‘U Make Me Wanna’ which was mostly OK but had its fair share of bum notes and I’m glad I had five minutes of Sky Plus pause to fast forward through. The next bridge was done by comedian Miranda Hart who, as expected, couldn’t end a punchline without making it sound like the end of a desperate lonely hearts column. I loved her in ‘Not Going Out’ but her solo material is so samey and desperate it annoys me. At least she didn’t do a prat fall though.

Next on the bill was a great idea of a cover, Lady Antebellum’s ‘Need You Now’. It was also a great idea to get concert organiser Gary Barlow to sing the male vocal. It was more grate, though, that they get Cheryl Cole to sing the female vocals. Frankly, she sounded awful, especially against Barlow’s in-tune vocals. It’s no wonder I didn’t like ‘Three Words’ when she duetted with Will.I.Am. I imagine live it must sound like someone slaughtering a cat to a bassline record.

The concert was lifted back up though by excellent comedian Lee Mack doing the next link, throwing in probably the best written and delivered comedy of the evening that didn’t fall back on fawning or stereotypes. It certainly cements Mack as one of our best current comedians both in stand up and on sitcom.

Gyrating septuagenarian Cliff Richard was up next to perform a montage of his hits which was fun to hear as a collection of songs from earlier in the Queen’s reign but even he struggled with some notes and didn’t cover himself in much glory. He ended with a full version of ‘Congratulations’, sadly a song ruined for me by too many visits to Frankie and Benny’s where they insist on playing the song every time a birthday party is in, which is most times.

Michael McIntyre-look like Lang Lang came on next to do some piano work, raising the cultural bar of the night, though I was expecting the Chinese panda from Glasgow Zoo to appear and then the music continued in the same vein with some opera from Alfie Boe including that Cornetto advert tune (yes, I’m a pleb).

Lenny Henry was on around here to do the next link. Now I love Henry as a comedian but, like Miranda Hart who always does her lonely hearts jokes (she did again in her second link – I’m glad I wasn’t playing the jubilee drinking game where you take a shot everytime Cheryl Cole missed a note, she mentioned she needs a man or the Queen looked miserable), he always shoe-horns a joke in about him being black. That’s great, Lenny, we know that. It’s 2012. Being black isn’t something weird or foreign so stop acting like it is.

Possibly the weirdest act of the night came on next, singer Grace Jones, dressed like a lobster, hula-hooping her way through her song. I assume this is a game to be showcased tonight at Nintendo’s E3 show. Her delivery of the song was perfect especially considering the extra exercise she was doing at the time and added another genre tick to the concert that was the definition of something for everyone.

Prince Harry look-a-like Ed Sheeran was on next and did what I thought was impossible and made me enjoy him singing ‘The A Team’. He sounded great but not sure a song about class a drugs is suitable for such an auspicious occasion.

Annie Lennox was the next act, trying to one-up Grace Jones in the fancy dress stakes, coming on with a pair of angel wings that the band had also donned. Either that or she’s appearing alongside Matt Smith in the next Doctor Who series and if you blink she’ll take you back to the Queen’s silver jubilee. Her voice was great and she tackled the songs well and proved that, in the main, it was the older artists holding up the music on the night.

With Rolf Harris suddenly appearing as a compere – he comes in useful later but otherwise one of the world’s leading entertainers is sadly underused – it’s onto Tom Jones who brings one more Welshie onto the stage after Rob Brydon and the soon to appear Shirley Bassey. He opened with a smooth and great sounding version of ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ sans the Stereophonics and then a Spanish reworking of sing-a-long hit. As many Twitterers observed – one of the highlights of this performance was commenting jokes on Twitter and seeing what everyone else was putting, and I apologise to my followers for my 200+ tweets on the night – a sing-a-long wife-murdering song is an unusual choice, especially when followed by the return of Robbie Williams singing ‘Mack The Knife’, offering the musical back-to-back equivalent of a London knife fight. It was great to see Robbie back on stage even if it was singing his swing cover, but it must have been a good start for the Queen, who turned up at this point. I know her husband is in hospital but she didn’t at all look like she was enjoying the gig. It’s alright for her, she came in at the good bit and didn’t have to hear Cheryl, Cliff or Will.I.Am.

The next song was probably the highlight of the evening for me. It was Gary Barlow’s ‘Sing’, performed on stage by the Commonwealth band including the Military Wives and a young African choir. It’s a beautifully composed song and was done marvellously live with all the voices and characters and works really well as a soundtrack to the Jubilee.

After a few more links – Rob Brydon seemed obsessed with making Gay / Queen jokes but his Jeremy Hunt line was possibly the most inspired joke of the night – we got one number from an underused Shirley Bassey – naturally ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, the first of two James Bond songs of the day – and then a montage from Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue who looked rather sexy in her pearly-king inspired costume and rattled through a good range of hits and some top dancers.

As the concert began its journey towards the end we got a beautiful rendition of West Side Story’s ‘Somewhere’ by Alfie Boe and Renee Fleming on the Buckingham Palace balcony (a musical about gang warfare – there’s a trend here) and then a cracking set from national treasure Elton John, starting with my favourite track of his ‘I’m Still Standing’, alongside ‘Crocodile Rock’ and ‘Your Song’, which is a set-list you can’t really criticise, even if he didn’t do ‘Candle In The Wind’. Shame.

With more black jokes from Lenny “One Note” Henry we then got the possible highlight of the evening, tongue-in-cheek. Forever more Stevie Wonder will be blamed for not being ready on time, or Gary Barlow for running too early, as Rolf Harris was called on to fill time. Naturally he performed ‘Two Little Boys’ acoustically which did get the crowd going, but the inclusion of the final number one of the sixties would never really be on any ones wish list. Though, kudos to the man, Harris proved himself to be able to keep the show going and the crowd involved at very last minute and shows him to be the amazing entertainer he is, even if he did start to break up with laughter.

Stevie Wonder’s set was as great as expected with the amazing ‘Sir Duke’ starting his set with ‘Happy Birthday’, perhaps not as relevant to the occasion as Cliff’s ‘Congratulations’, following alongside ‘Superstition’. A fair point was made by Lee Mack about him doing a duet with Paul McCartney on ‘Ebony and Ivory’, something that didn’t happen, but echoes the feeling I had about artists sharing the bill and not teaming up. Robbie and Kylie performing ‘Kids’ would have been incredible.

The major highlight of the evening had to be, though, Madness on the roof of Buckingham Palace but not necessarily for their performance, though that was as amazing as you’d expect. Accompanying ‘Our House’ was some eye-popping visual effects projected onto the front of the palace showing the front peeling away to show a row of terrace houses and then people dancing inside. It had to be seen to be believed but was a visual spectacle.

Peter Kay was a surprise guest for a brief and mildly amusing comedy set before headliner Paul McCartney came on for a fun set full of unusual song choices including ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da’. He sounded good though and got the crowd singing but expected some more sing-a-long Beatles tunes.

The night ended with a touching speech from Prince Charles – calling the Queen ‘mummy’ and an impressive firework display that was well timed with the end of the BBC coverage.

Overall the Jubilee Concert was a well organised and enjoyable 200 minutes of music, encompassing artists to please as many people as possible. Tom, Madness, Robbie, Gary, Shirley, Kylie, Paul and others lifted the show to great heights, it’s just a shame that Cliff, Cheryl and Will.I.Am seriously let the sides down. The light work was great, the projections fantastic, the fireworks a great rounding off of the night. Though a few of the comperes were less than funny – Mack, Harris and Henry, when he wasn’t making stereotypical jokes, were the best – it was an event that was held together well, and was made even better with the typical British self-depreciation and piss-take humour evident on Twitter.

The BBC’s coverage of it was mostly first class but I bet the atmosphere of being there on the night would have been even better. A great night to celebrate her Majesty’s 60 years of reign.

(8.5/10)

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