Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Bretton, Bobby Ball, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden.

We have all been there at some point or another, the forced bonhomie of another party in which we would rather be anywhere else, but because of tradition, because of friendship, because of love, we paint a smile on our face and join in the games, we reminisce about old times and we talk loudly of the good times and plans to be executed in the year to come. The sadness that we feel, the losses we have suffered, the joy that was displaced, is turned on itself, that by Not Going Out, we are placing ourselves in the path of internal review, that the close quarters reveal our inner most thoughts in a way that betray the hopes of the clock ticking down to the inevitable zero.

More than could probably have been foreseen, the 2020 Christmas special of Lee Mack’s sublime comedy vehicle, Not Going Out, is one that hits home at just how emotional the year has been, how much it has taken from us, how it has taken us to the edge of our collected wits, so much so that tempers and nerves are not just frayed, but on the point of breaking, snapping in the most unforgivable way.

To understand the way the special was filmed, to see the great Bobby Ball as Lee’s father in one of his last recorded shows, is to appreciate the text and the underlying thought that went into the writing of the script by Lee Mack and Danny Peak.

Comedy is not only the great redeemer, but it is also the leveller to which we must cling to with earnest, dogmatic resolve. Drama may reveal pain, but comedy, when the timing is spot on and the observation is sincere, embraces tragedy and offers hope; and it is to hope in amongst the anguish of loss, personal and collectively, that the beauty of this episode is to be revealed.

Home truths are never nice when uncalled for, but the way in which we reveal our soul during a gathering cannot be ignored, and as the family and friends join in one game to many, as the bickering becomes too much to bare, it is to the genius of Hugh Dennis as the perennial people pleaser Hugh, that the whole of 2020 can be summed up in his delivery of a line which may not be classic, might not be seen as comedy gold, but it is the most beautiful way to showcase frustration and anger, and still leave the audience laughing.

With a new series to come, how the team will respond to this episode is important, for in a time of grief and sadness, the chance to laugh at the world is paramount. One of the great British comedies of the last decade has a lot riding on it in 2021.

Ian D. Hall