Panto

I thought this was hilarious and brilliant and I laughed all the way through! A fun trip down memory lane with the Jason Donovan songs too. I really enjoyed the way Lee interacted with the audience as actors do in a real panto. Great job!

I applaud Lee Mack for doing something a little different, rather than the usual Christmas format, he opted to write something, a little different. It's a hybrid panto sitcom, the question, did it work....

It's a mixed bag it's fair to say, after some initial routine jokes, we get the best scene, a mention to the much loved, much missed Bobby Ball, who leaves a serious gap, that was a nice moment.

The jokes, some were good, some landed very badly, I think many of us are done with Covid jokes.

There was an element of fun here, and the presence of Jason Donovan did add something, even if lots of the laughs were telegraphed.

I wish I'd watched this pre Christmas, I think it would have landed better, watching it on a cold January night, it was a good effort, sadly it's not going to be an episode to repeat watch.

Imaginative, if flawed, 6/10.

Stumbled into this pantomime and wished for more. Lee Mack bring it on. I reckon the detractors don't understand what panto is. Great horse as well.😊😊😊

Ok you need six hundred characters for a review to be submitted. Thanks for not letting Jason sing although I did enjoy his posh Aussie accent.

I live in Australia and as a child saw many pantomimes. I believe it began my love of musical theatre and amateur play groups. More pantomimes, more amateur theatre, more fun and laughter. If the naysayers can put on something as entertaining as this is, please do so, you know the old saying "shut up or put up". MORE LEE MACK PANTOS😊😊😊

Another really disappointing entry in Lee Mack's long running sitcom.

Dream sequences are nothing new to the series and in this episode Lee dreams he's part of a Cinderella pantomime with the other cast members playing the other roles.

An interesting concept but poorly executed with poor topical jokes that are a far cry from the days of witty one liners we were used to a decade ago.

There's also a supporting role for Jason Donavan as Prince Charming, but in reality it could have been any other actor playing the role.

A minor annoyance for me was that Lee breaks the 4th wall and regularly interacted with the audience (like a real panto), it felt really out of place for a studio sitcom, and made it feel like one if his stand up shows.

The only positive was the nice mention of Lee's Dad played by the late Bobby Ball. Hopefully he'll get a proper send off in a later episode.

I hope the next series improves on this episode. The bar has been set low, but the show has rapidly declined since series 7 for me, with more duds than great episodes.

Not Going Out goes Panto in a rather laboured way.

Lucy is sick and tired of doing all the housework. Lee contributes nothing but wisecracks.

Lucy dreams of being swept off her feet by Jason Donovan or Rick Astley.

This could be Lee's worse nightmare.

A panto edition of Not Going Out and Bobby Ball was not forgotten.

Jason Donovan got into the spirit of it all. Some of the jokes work better if you know the lyrics to his songs. That does rule out a large segment of the audience!

It was certainly different, a fair few crude jokes but not the funniest Christmas specials of Not Going Out.