Beyond going out
Lee Mack has combined Sally Bretton’s starring roles in Not Going Out and Beyond Paradise into a gag-filled sketch for Comic Relief
BBC/Joss Barratt/Red Planet Pictures Limited
- Gareth McLean
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Felicity Montagu knows a thing or two about making people laugh, having played Alan Partridge’s beleaguered assistant Lynn for almost 30 years, not to mention turns in the sketch shows Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, Harry Enfield and Chums, and Julia Davis’s sitcom Nighty Night. So, it’s a good sign that she unreservedly declares Comic Relief’s Not Going Out/Beyond Paradise crossover sketch as “such a delight”.
“It’s very tongue-in-cheek, and the jokes just keep coming so you’ve got to get in there quick,” says the actor, who is currently playing Beyond Paradise’s spiky Margo Martins, of the five-minute skit written by Lee Mack, Not Going Out’s creator and star. “This was more like using the muscle I used in my early days, when I was in sitcoms filmed in front of audiences. Lee is a wonderful, clever writer.” At one point, Montagu says she turned to her Beyond Paradise co-star Sally Bretton, and said, “I guess that’s why you’ve done 100 episodes with him.”
Of course, it’s Bretton’s dual roles in both Beyond Paradise and Not Going Out – she plays Martha Lloyd, fiancé to Kris Marshall’s DI Goodman in the former, and Lucy Adams, wife of Mack’s Lee in the latter – that makes the conceit of the crossover episode possible.
Sally Bretton with Lee Mack and Dylan Llewellyn, filming with Felicity Montagu. BBC
“Because Sal’s in both, it’s the idea that these two worlds collide, that her two characters collide,” explains Mack, “and comedy ensues.”
Comedy for a good cause, no less.
“Some years, people have asked us and if it coincides with when we’re filming, we try and do it – but it’s always been difficult to fit in,” says Mack. Previously, Not Going Out went the extra mile for charity in 2012 when Mack wrote a special mini-episode for Children in Need.
In it, Sir Terry Wogan turned up at Lee’s front door rattling a collection bucket, inveigled his way inside, usurping Lee and ensconcing himself on the sofa with a rather enamoured Lucy and series regular Daisy (Katy Wix). That undertaking was made (slightly) easier because it was filmed in the studio – but Mack is the sort of writer and performer who likes a challenge.
“When something’s new and different and throws you a bit of a curveball, that’s exciting,” he says. “So this time, I thought ‘Rather than bring them to us, why don’t I go to the world of Beyond Paradise?’ So that’s what I did. Because we [Not Going Out] are in a studio a lot, being out on location and being in that world is great.”
Comedy ensues when Sally's two worlds collide
Mack spent a full day filming the five-minute sketch in Cornwall’s more scenic corners, so it has “the look and feel of Beyond Paradise but with very Not Going Out dialogue. We kept up the pace of the gags but you’re trying to tell a mini story with a beginning, a middle and an end in there as well. That’s a lot to compact in. Plus there’s the challenge of filming it because sometimes in a shot, you’ve got two characters played by the same actor…”
So how long did it take to actually write the sketch? “A lot longer than we first thought! You always feel like with five or seven minutes, you can write that in a couple of days – but it never works out like that,” says Mack. “You’re doing so many drafts, you’ve got to make sure everyone’s happy with it, and a sketch with a story always takes longer than just a sketch. However simple the story, that’s when it becomes difficult.”
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Difficult, perhaps, but not impossible for the whip-smart Mack, the man responsible for Britain’s second-longest-running sitcom, behind Last of the Summer Wine. But he’s not really the star of this sketch, of course. And as the woman of the moment – a woman of many parts, in fact – the last word goes to Sally Bretton herself. “People will really enjoy it,” she says. “Lee’s done an amazing job.” You’ll be able to see the sketch for yourself on Friday night…
Authors
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he's reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he's interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.
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