Line #9 Series/NotGoingOut


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/notgoingout_cast.jpg]]
2
3	''Not Going Out'' is a pun-heavy British sitcom starring Creator/LeeMack that first ran from 2006 to 2014, followed by a one-off special in 2015 before resuming from 2017 to the present.
4
5	The show originally focused on Lee, a perpetually unemployed layabout who prefers to spend his time hanging around with his best friend, Tim (Creator/TimVine), rather than finding meaningful employment. In the first series, Lee rents a room from Kate, Tim's American ex-girlfriend. From the second series, Kate is replaced with Lucy (Sally Bretton), Tim's younger sister, a consultant with whom Lee shares a combative will-they-won't-they relationship.
6
7	Supporting characters during the show's original run included Barbara (Creator/MirandaHart), Lucy's cleaner who never seemed to do much cleaning, Daisy (Katy Wix), Tim's CloudCuckoolander girlfriend. Cast turnovers during this time saw the departures of Barbara and Tim and the arrival of Toby (Hugh Dennis) and Anna (Abigail Cruttenden) a posh couple who spend most of their time sniping at one another and find themselves getting sucked into Lee and Lucy's lives.
8
9	After a brief hiatus following [[RelationshipUpgrade Lee and Lucy's wedding]] in the 2014 Christmas special, the show returned with a significant {{Retool}} and an eight-year TimeSkip to focus on Lee and Lucy as a married couple with three children and the promotion of Lee's dad, Frank, and Lucy's parents, Geoffrey and Wendy, to major supporting characters alongside Toby and Anna.
10
11	Select episodes can be seen on Lee Mack's [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCwNLAU8YZk2SuviSjR3CQA YouTube channel]].
12	----
13	!!This show contains examples of:
14
15	* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Parodied/subverted. At Kate's insistence, Lee reluctantly agrees to see a Californian therapist for one session. After answering her questions with his typical hurricane of witty quips and innuendos, she says she'd like to talk about his mother, leading to this exchange:
16	--> '''Lee:''' Oh, here we go.\
17	'''Therapist:''' What? \
18	'''Lee:''' This is all the mum-fancying stuff.\
19	'''Therapist:''' ''I'' never suggested you fancied your mother.\
20	'''Lee:''' What, you saying she's ugly?
21	* AlmostKiss: [[spoiler:Lee and Lucy]] have one of these.
22	* AprilFoolsPlot: This is revealed in the episode where [[spoiler:Lucy fakes a pregnancy scare after she finds Lee masturbating in her bath]].
23	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The episode "Coffin" focuses on Lee being buried alive. He is able to breathe perfectly fine after being nailed inside a coffin for over four hours and can still get mobile phone reception (albeit with the occassional interference). In the first case, Carbon Dioxide poisoning should have made breathing difficult after about three hours. In the second case, phone signals can be blocked by only a few inches of soil. One of the people facetiming him even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshedes]] this fact by asking what network he is using (Saying that the coverage is ''phenominal!''). Another point is that Lee's friends and a priest are able to unearth coffins in barely a minute instead of half-an-hour to an hour.
24	* AwfulWeddedLife: Toby and Anna have a miserable marriage. Most of their onscreen time is spent lobbing potshots at the other.
25	* BedmateReveal: After Lee and Lucy get blind drunk on potato hooch.
26	** A variation in Lee's dream when he's in a coma (his dad shows up between him and Lucy twice)
27	* BadJobWorseUniform: 'If there's two things I love it's handing out leaflets and looking like a nob! Who would have thought there'd be a way to combine both?'
28	* BadOmenAnecdote: Tim recalls the plot of a slasher film when the four get lost in the woods on a camping trip.
29	* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Tim]]
30	* BigDamnKiss: An absolutely massive one (complete with a {{Glomp}}) from [[spoiler: Lucy]] after [[spoiler: Lee proposes.]]
31	* BottleEpisode: There have been several bottle episodes so far.
32	** "Skiing" was set entirely in a cable car.
33	** "Plane", in which Lee thinks there is a terrorist attack whilst on the titular plane
34	** "Lucy" was set entirely in the bar.
35	** "Escape Room" was set entirely in an escape room
36	** "Parachute" was set entirely on board a plane right before the entire main cast take part in a charity parachute jump.
37	** "Memory", "Resolutions" and "War" took place entirely in Lee and Lucy's sitting room, while "Beep" takes up the whole ground floor of the house.
38	** "Jury" is set in a small room where the members of said jury make their decision.
39	** "Hospital" only features a single ward.
40	** "Coffin"...well...speaks for itself.
41	** "Train" only has a single compartment in it.
42	* BreadEggsMilkSquick
43	* BreathlessNonSequitur
44	* ButICantBePregnant: [[spoiler:Lucy ]]
45	* CampStraight: Tim
46	* CannotSpitItOut: Prior to "Lucy", Lee masks his attraction to Lucy under heavy layers of sarcasm and it takes a BatmanGambit to get him to confess his feelings.
47	* CannotTellAJoke: Kate.
48	** Daisy as well, due to being the {{Malaproper}}.
49	* CeilingBanger: Lucy with a noisy neighbour.
50	* CelebrityParadox: Lucy mentions Cannon & Ball in one episode. Bobby Ball plays Lee's dad.
51	** And Tommy Cannon appears in the 2014 Christmas Special as [[spoiler: the vicar at Lee and Lucy's wedding.]] Cue an ActorAllusion about Bobby Ball's braces.
52	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:[[spoiler:Barbara after Series 3(Due to the filming of Miranda Hart's sitcom) and Daisy between Series 7 and 8. And Tim when the show transitioned into a family sitcom]]
53	* ClassClown: Lee
54	* ClearMyName: What Lee has to do when caught in the company of a prostitute (unknowingly)
55	* CloudCuckooLander: Daisy.
56	* ConsummateLiar: Lee, and Frank. And [[spoiler: Toby as part of his plan to get Lee and Lucy together]]. Even he's surprised at how good he is.
57	* ContinuityCavalcade: [[spoiler: [[LipstickLesbian Amy]] (Series 3 Episode 3), [[CoolOldLady Betty]] (Series 4 Episode 5), [[DaddyDNATest Debbie]] (Series 4 Episode 2), [[MayDecemberRomance Guy]] (Series 2), [[SmallNameBigEgo Stretch]] (Series 5 Episode 1), Paul (Series 6 Episode 1), the psychotic upstairs neighbour (Series 3 Episode 7), and of course Tim]] all appear at [[spoiler: Lee and Lucy's wedding]] in the 2014 Christmas Special along with flashbacks to their most memorable scenes.
58	** The last ten minutes of the 2014 Christmas Special are pretty much nothing but flashbacks to funny and heartwarming moments.
59	* ConvenienceStoreGiftShopping: Lee, when he's not untying flowers from lamp posts...
60	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: "Christmas Shopping" has the cast getting trapped in a store with an armed robber who has smashed their phones. [[spoiler:At the end it turns out Frank had forgotten he had a phone in his hat.]]
61	* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Kate with the plush monkey
62	* {{Crossover}}: One episode saw Lee and Daisy participate in {{Series/Pointless}}.
63	* CurseCutShort: Several:
64	** Subverted in a series 3 episode, where Lee said "f-" before the opening titles interrupted him. After the opening, the scene picked up where it left off: "-uck."
65	** Lucy ends an episode telling Lee, "You can be a real [[CountryMatters c-]]" closing titles
66	** Another episode ends with Lucy saying to Lee "[[PrecisionFStrike ...you can get f-]]" closing titles
67	** Lee calls his Dad the same thing during a roller coaster ride, but is cut short as they plummet down a slope.
68	* DaddysGirl: Lucy
69	* DaddyDNATest: The plot of one series 4 episode, where a 20-year-old girl arrives claiming Lee might be her father... only for it to transpire that her mother slept with Tim in the same week. [[spoiler: [[TakeAThirdOption It turns out her real father is a third man from the party they were at]], who [[BrickJoke had been the subject of a]] RunningGag throughout the episode.]]
70	* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone to an extent.
71	* TheDiaperChange: 'Give it a good scrape first'
72	* DisappearedDad: Lee's dad Frank
73	* TheDitz: Daisy to hilarious extremes
74	* DirtyOldMan: Lee's dad Frank
75	* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Betty attacking Lee in "Fireworks".
76	** A slightly different take to usual, as Betty is elderly, frail and clearly has dementia.
77	** Averted with Miranda Hart's first appearance as an acupuncturist, which sees Lee attacking her as a background joke.
78	* DumbassHasAPoint: In the 2017 ChristmasSpecial, Lee and Lucy are furious to find out Frank carelessly brought the kids a trampoline from a dodgy man in a pub (who apparently stole Toby and Ann's gift for their kids), with Lee comparing him to a cuckoo. Frank of course is quick to snap back that the only reason they're embroiled in the problem in the first place is because they acted like cuckoos themselves and stole it from ''him'' in their own dimwitted scheme.
79	-->'''Lee:''' [[LameComeback That's]] ''[[SidetrackedByTheAnalogy magpies]]''!
80	-->'''Frank:''' Alright, Bill Oddie!
81	* EnormousEngagementRing: Lucy is taken aback by the massive and expensive diamonds her slightly dodgy nightclub-owning boyfriend has given her as a sort of engagement gift. Her cynical and jealous flatmate Lee suggests this is all a scam to get otherwise chargeable jewellry through Customs for free as Lucy and her man are off on a dream holiday.
82	* EpisodeOnAPlane: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Plane]]"
83	* ExactWords: Lee's way of remaining honest while engaging in duplicitous schemes
84	* FaceDoodling: Tim does this to female relatives when drunk.
85	* FalseReassurance: 'All I'm trying to do is clean up'- Lee tricking Tim into thinking he wants Lucy out the flat to wash a wine stain when in fact he's renting it to a (porn) director as a set.
86	** When [[spoiler: Lee, Geoffrey, and Frank are all missing right before Lee and Lucy's wedding]], Wendy reassures Lucy that Geoffrey and Lee won't let her down. Then as soon as Lucy's out of earshot, she angrily mutters [[spoiler: "[[PrecisionFStrike Or I'll have the fucking bollocks off the pair of them]]."]]
87	* FauxYay: Lucy thinks she's offended a gay man she fancies, so she gets Lee to pretend to be gay so she can show how tolerant she is:
88	-->'''Lucy:''' Oh come on! I'd do the same for you! I mean, I can't think of any situation in which me pretending to be lesbian would help you at all...
89	-->''(Lee [[GirlOnGirlIsHot sinks into thought]])''
90	-->'''Lee:''' No, me neither.
91	** This one has an extra layer to it as the guy Lucy thought she'd offended wasn't even gay himself. [[SorryImGay He'd said that to spare the feelings of a woman who was attracted to him]].
92	* FawltyTowersPlot: The lies piled up in this episode:
93	-->'''Lucy''': What lesson have you learned?
94	-->'''Lee''': To always be honest and truthful. Now, get out there and pretend I'm blind, Tim's disabled, Daisy has amnesia and you've got [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]].
95	* FriendsRentControl: Lee is constantly between jobs and prefers hanging around the pub rather than doing any work, but is still able to afford a room in a very pricey section of London.
96	* GargleBlaster: Potato Hooch
97	* GeniusDitz: Daisy - who once in a while does something brilliant, like rescuing Tim and Lee from a psychopathic drug dealer. Or putting all Lee's money on a horse on a whim - and winning at enormous odds, thus rescuing him from an evil clown to whom he owes a lot of cash. It makes sense in context.
98	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Lee and Tim frequently invokes this when a Lesbian couple moves downstairs.
99	* GrandFinale: The 2014 ChristmasSpecial was set up to provide an endpoint to the show, with shedloads of flashbacks, cameos by notable guest characters, [[spoiler: the return of Tim]], and [[spoiler: a very conclusive ending to the WillTheyOrWontThey between Lee and Lucy]]. The show ended up coming back with a significant ReTool.
100	* GuysAreSlobs: Lee
101	* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: Lee accuses Lucy of being dishonest when she hesitates over questions about her relationship with Amy. When she throws it back at him questioning him about his relationship with Tim and he hesitates he brushes it off by saying he was sickened by the suggestion.
102	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: One recurring plot element involves Lee blundering into trouble and making things worse for himself in the end when his attempts to cover things up fall apart.
103	* HomePornMovie: Lee and Lucy believe they've made one.
104	* HurricaneOfPuns
105	* IHaveThisFriend: Lee uses this to talk about his genitals in two separate episodes.
106	* ILikeMyXLikeILikeMyY: Stretch uses it to charm Lucy
107	* IncrediblyLamePun: At ''least'' once a minute.
108	* InnocentInnuendo: When Lucy mentions she's planning to stay in with a bottle of wine and a "ChickFlick", Lee imagines it a completely different way.
109	* IntentionalEngrishForFunny
110	* InterruptedIntimacy: Lee pops up during an experimental moment between Lucy and Amy
111	* [[spoiler: IObject:]] Played for laughs twice in quick succession [[spoiler: at Lee and Lucy's wedding]] in the 2014 Christmas Special. The first is [[spoiler: Tim arriving at the last minute to take his place as Lee's best man]], and the second is [[spoiler: Frank getting petulant about no longer being the best man.]]
112	* IResembleThatRemark:
113	-->'''Tim''' : (reading a question from a personality quiz) Are you the kind of person who jumps into decisions without properly considering all the available options?
114	-->'''Lee''': (firmly) No.
115	-->'''Tim''': Hang on, it's multiple choice.
116	* ItRunsInTheFamily: 'Who would have thought that an aptitude for scrounging was hereditary?'
117	** Lucy and Geoffrey have both threatened to wear Lee's testicles as earrings.
118	* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Tim
119	* JerkassHasAPoint: Lucy frequently gives Lee grief about how he acts towards and treats his father, and she's probably right to. But in Lee's defence, his dad has treated him with even less consideration and care for most of his whole life. A few times putting up with Frank herself, and Lucy does seem to get where Lee is coming from.
120	* JokeExhaustion: If anyone tries to make a serious point to Lee Mack, his stock response is to return with a blizzard of obfuscating one-line jokes and wordplays. His co-star Tim Vine is a comedian renowned for his ability to create one-line non-sequeterial jokes practically instantaneously.
121	* TheKlutz: Barbara, who manages to break something every time she cleans.
122	* LikeFatherLikeSon: Lee and his dad are very similar in how they act, as much as Lee would like to think otherwise.
123	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Lee and Lucy naturally evolve into this, justified as they have lived together for seven years they even lampshade it in the episode concerning the Potato Hooch drinking binge in series five:
124	-->'''Lucy''' : (annoyed) Hang on you're my lodger, when did you suddenly become my husband?
125	-->'''Lee''': (deadpan) Yesterday or can't you remember?
126	* LineOfSightName: Lee pretends his son's name is George whilst he's trying to convince a drugs counselor of his existence. [[MaleGaze The name 'George' comes from the (female) counselor's shirt.]]
127	* TheLoad: Daisy is this in the finale of series 6. The entire episode centres on her, Lee, Lucy and Frank being trapped at sea. Almost everything that makes things worse is her fault.
128	** Of course, Daisy and Barbara tend to be this most of the time.
129	* LazyBum
130	* LoserProtagonist: Most of the cast to some degree, though especially Lee, the one mainstay throughout the whole show, as well as a LazyBum with a NeverMyFault complex and a ''horrendous'' penchant for {{Zany Scheme}}s.
131	* MaintainTheLie
132	* ManlyManAndSensitiveGuy: Lee and Tim respectively
133	* MayIBorrowACupOfSugar: In one episode, this appears to be a MeetCute, but turns out to be the excuse version of sorts when a young woman who [[spoiler:thinks she is Lee's daughter appears at his door. Turns out at the end that she isn't Lee's daughter after all]]. When a guy shows up at the end of the episode asking to borrow some milk Lee tells him there's a Tesco nearby and shuts the door on him.
134	* MenAreUncultured: Well, Lee is
135	* MistakenForGay: In the finale [[spoiler:Tim turns up in time for the Wedding objection and says he should be standing beside Lee (as best man). When Lee's dad objects as he is best man the Vicar says it's legal now.]]
136	* MistakenForProstitute: Mistaken for masseuse
137	* MommasBoy
138	* MonsterClown: In "Camping," Lee, Tim, Lucy, and Daisy get stranded and find themselves surrounded by a growing group of individuals wearing ominous clown masks. [[spoiler:Turns out, the group are at a popular dogging site and they're surrounded by people looking for people having sex to watch.]]
139	* MyParentsAreDead: As Lee backpedals from confronting a noisy psychotic neighbor he rhetorically asks 'Who am I to tell you to keep the noise down? I'm not your mum' the neighbor snaps 'My mother's dead!' Lee's response? '[[{{Film/Psycho}} You don't run a hotel with her do you?]]'
140	* MySisterIsOffLimits
141	* NeverMyFault: A large amount of episodes, especially post-retool, devolve into escalating chaos simply because Lucy and Lee don't want to admit blame for an at-first-relatively-reasonable mistake. Generally Lucy is more willing to call out the absurdity of Lee's schemes and inability to admit his errors, though as Lee has often pointed out, she is sometimes just as willing to shirk responsibility or blame him for everything, even during times [[NotSoAboveItAll she is equally to blame]].
142	* NewJobEpisode
143	* NoodleIncident: The episode with the art exhibition has Tim berating Lee:
144	-->'''Lee:''' It's not my fault!\
145	'''Tim:''' Oh yeah. When my grandmother ended up in a ditch, it wasn't your fault. When my aunt could only eat soft fruit for a week, it wasn't your fault!
146	** There's a lot of [[spoiler: Lee's stag night]] that we don't see, aren't told about, and is probably lost to the ages thanks to alcohol-induced amnesia.
147	* ObnoxiousInLaws: [[spoiler: Geoffrey, Lucy's Father, is this to Lee before the wedding.]] He makes it quite clear he hates [[spoiler:Lee]] and wishes the wedding doesn't go ahead.
148	* OneHourWorkWeek: Barbara the Cleaner. Lee often jokes about the last time he saw Barbara actually ''clean'' something?
149	* OneWordTitle: Every episode except the Christmas specials and "Life on Mars Bars".
150	* OutGambitted: Lee and Lucy get drunk together to settle an argument about whether one can get too drunk to remember things. They wake up naked in Lucy's bed in the next morning and both panic. [[spoiler: It turns out that Lucy faked the scene to prank Lee. It also turns out that Lee was only pretending to drink.]]
151	* OutOfFocus: Lee and Lucy's children are regulars in the first post-{{Retool}} series, then steadily appear less and less, which was [[RealLifeWritesThePlot likely informed]] by the fact that any scenes with them could not be filmed in front of a live audience and had to be pre-recorded. In the 2021 series (filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was likely also a factor) they are entirely absent apart from one appearance from Molly and one by all three (one of whom is offscreen and voiceover-only), although they remain in the opening titles.
152	* ParentalFavoritism: Lucy seems to benefit
153	* PassThePopcorn
154	* PrankPunishment: In "Pregnant", Lucy announces that [[TitleDrop she is pregnant]], much to the shock of Lee, who had ejaculated into her bathwater and now fears he is the father. When he reluctantly admits the deed to Lucy, she initially reacts with horror and tells him to GetOut, then reveals that she knew about it the whole time, and the "pregnancy" was just a prank to get back at him for it.
155	* PrecisionFStrike: A couple through the series, including Lucy's "What the fuck is going on?"
156	** The most notable is [[spoiler: Wendy's when Lee, Geoffrey, and Frank are missing right before Lee and Lucy's wedding.]] You'd never quite expect to hear the words "Or I'll have the fucking bollocks off the pair of them" from her.
157	* PreemptiveShutup
158	* TheProblemWithPenIsland: In the TotallyRadical example below.
159	* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Daisy in series 4, replacing Barbara's spot in the sequence. (Following Tim Vine's departure after series 5, in series 6 the opening titles were re-filmed to put her front and centre.)
160	* PullThePlugOnTheTitle: The title sequence shows the words as big multiple-lightbulb signs held up by Lee, Tim and Kate(then Lucy). Lee's word goes out randomly in series 1 and 6, and either Barbara (series 2-3) or Daisy (series 4-5) is shown unplugging it.
161	* PungeonMaster: Lee more than anyone else.
162	* PutOnABus:[[spoiler:Kate leaves for America offscreen after Series 1 and Tim goes to Germany offscreen after Series 5. Although at least he returns for the wedding.]]
163	* RearWindowHomage: In "Front Window", Lee has had a knee operation and is confined to the house, so he watches the going-ons of his neighborhood. HilarityEnsues when he believes that one of the neighbors has killed one of the cats in the same neighbourhood.
164	* RefrigeratorAmbush: ''Neighbor''
165	* {{Retool}}: The show underwent a massive retool in 2017, becoming a more traditional DomCom about a married couple, their children, family, and friends.
166	* RetroactiveWish:
167	-->'''Lee:''' Honestly, who do you know who could break a passport?\
168	''([[TheDitz the cleaner]] walks in)''\
169	'''Lee:''' Honestly, who do you know that's a beautiful nymphomaniac rich widow?\
170	''(nothing happens)''\
171	'''Lee:''' Oh, so it's just the one wish then.
172	* RuleOfFunny: In series 6, Tim's absence is HandWaved within 10 seconds of the first episode as working in Germany, and it is ''never'' explained why his girlfriend continues to show up randomly at his sister's flat.
173	* TheScrounger: Lee and particularly his dad
174	* ShipperOnDeck: Barbara, for Lee/Lucy.
175	** Daisy takes on this role after Barbara leaves
176	** [[spoiler: Toby and Anna]] are revealed to be this for Lee and Lucy at the end of Series 7. [[spoiler: And they actually succeed in making them admit their feelings for each other.]]
177	* ShoutOut: The cold opening to the episode "Life on Mars Bars" is a reconstruction of the opening to ''Series/{{Life On Mars\|2006}}''.
178	** In the latter series, a neighbour who becomes a friend of Lee is played by [[Series/TheMaryWhitehouseExperience Hugh Dennis]], who is an Series/{{Outnumbered}} and somewhat put-upon husband and father who tries to take it all in his stride.
179	* SitComic: Lee Mack and Tim Vine
180	* TheSlacker: Lee
181	* SnowballLie
182	* StolenCreditBackfire: The 2017 ChristmasSpecial, "The True Meaning Of Christmas" has Lucy and Lee take credit for the kids' trampoline Frank bought them after failing to get them a creditable gift, not wanting to look pathetic in front of Lucy's parents. After convincing Frank to play along, Toby and Ann come with the news that someone stole the trampoline ''they'' bought for their kids (Frank meekly reveals he actually bought his from a shady man from the pub). After a NeverMyFault argument with Frank and a dismal attempt to cover up the trampoline, Lucy and Lee are left taking credit for stupidly buying their neighbours' stolen present.
183	* StronglyWordedLetter: Lucy leaves one for their psychotic neighbor against Lee's protests
184	* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: The karaoke song Tim starts singing the same moment [[spoiler:Debbie tells Lee she thinks he's her father.]]
185	** When Lee turns the radio on to drown out the sound of his dad getting a suppository it's "The Only Way is Up" by Yazz.
186	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: When discussing Police falsely accusing people if they can't get them for a real crime, Frank mentions a break-in at an off-licence in 1974 along with what was stolen before catching himself.
187	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Toby is one for Tim in some respects. Both are intelligent and well-off middle class [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkeys]] who get dragged into Lee's schemes to their detriment. Though Toby is more self-assured and most of the humour comes from his being a HenpeckedHusband rather than a lack of masculinity like Tim.
188	** Lucy for Kate in the sense that they were both leading female characters alongside Lee, they owned the flat and Lee was their lodger.
189	** Daisy came in just before Barbara left, and both were very quirky, comic-relief supporting characters, though Barbara was more of a physical klutz while Daisy was just a general simpleton.
190	* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Lee's attempt at speed-dating.
191	* ThinkUnsexyThoughts
192	* TimeSkip:There's an eight-year time skip [[spoiler:from the 7th Series when Lee & Lucy get married to the 8th series where they have three children and have moved out of the apartment into a house.]]
193	* ToiletHumour: Used occasionally but hilariously such as when Lee and Tim are called upon to babysit Guy's grandson.
194	* TotallyRadical: Parodied. Lee has found yet another dead-end job, so Kate asks him if he bothered to look at some career leaflets she got for him. He dismissively says that they're all aimed at kids, citing a slogan: "Do you want a career, innit?" Kate reads the leaflet; the slogan in question is actually [[TheProblemWithPenIsland "Do you want a career in IT?"]]
195	* [[ToughRoom Tough Crowd...]]: Both Tim and Lee. Lee even uses it as a catchphrase of sorts.
196	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Tim accuses Lee of being this.
197	* TroubleEntendre: A FawltyTowersPlot rendered the main characters unable to say their true meanings in order not to reveal the fact that they weren't disabled, leading to this sort of talk, which everyone else remains clueless to, even when one of them explicitly says "blackmail".
198	* UnCancelled: After the third series.
199	* UnderTheMistletoe
200	* VerbalBackpedaling: Lee on childbirth- 'It can't be as bad as women go on about...women say... people say... stupid people!'
201	* VideoCallFail: The punchline for the episode "Text", where Lee, who has become involved in a FawltyTowersPlot involving a text message sent to the wrong person, accidentally strips off his pants [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to create a dick picture]] to Anna's virtual meeting.
202	* VitriolicBestBuds: Lee and Tim.
203	* WalkingDisasterArea: Barbara.
204	* WaxingLyrical:
205	-->'''Barbara:''' Listen. When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, what will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me.
206	-->'''Lee:''' I'm guessing it was a no.
207	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: After Lee's father takes him on a Stag night [[spoiler:they wake up in a cell. The Policeman comes in and starts talking to them in another language. It turns out he is doing this as a joke.]]
208	* WholePlotReference: The episode ''Life on Mars Bars'' is a half-hour reference to ''Series/{{Life On Mars\|2006}}''.
209	* WomenAreWiser: Downplayed, in that Lucy often calls out Lee's shenanigans and crudeness, but is usually equally shallow and unwilling to accept humiliation or bad repercussions, meaning she often ends up embroiled in cover-up schemes just as pathetically as he does.
210	* WhyAreYouLookingAtMeLikeThat
211	* WillTheyOrWontThey: From Series 2 onwards, this is at the core of the programme between Lee and Lucy. [[spoiler: Finally, after seven years and some significant nudging from upstairs neighbours Toby and Anna, they do, getting a RelationshipUpgrade.]]
212	* WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons: Frequently leveled at Lee and Frank.
213

Context Series / NotGoingOut