Not Going Out - The True Meaning of Christmas - 03:50 am Thursday, January 15 on U&Dave ja vu

Lee Mack (Actor) .. Lee

Born: August 04, 1968 in Southport

Best Known For: His role as namesake Lee in BBC comedy Not Going Out.

Early-life: Born Lee Gordon McKillop in Southport, Manchester. He lived with his parents above a pub before their divorce and he relocated to Blackburn. He left school at sixteen and worked as a stable boy and a bingo caller before his talent for performing was realised. He joined Pontin's as a Bluecoat but was sacked for shouting profanities at the audience and going on stage drunk. He entered an open-mike competition in 1994 and his talent was so obvious that he was to become a full-time comic within 18 months.

Career: His success as a stand-up was crowned when he won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came to the attention of TV bosses after a stint on the radio. Lee was cast in The Sketch show alongside long-term collaborator Tim Vine. After a short-lived stint presenting They Think It's All Over, Mack and Vine began work on Not Going Out. The series revolves around two friends with opposite backgrounds and personalities, much like the two comics themselves. Mack has recently become a regular on comedy panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He also has sell-out tours and best-selling DVDs to his name.

Quote: "I'm not as bothered about being as cool as I was 10 years ago. I quite like the idea of being phenomenally uncool."

Trivia: In June 2012, Mack was one of the comperes at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace.

Sally Bretton (Actor) .. Lucy

Born: April 23, 1980 in Portsmouth

Best Known For: Playing Lucy in the BBC comedy Not Going Out.

Early-life: Sally was born in Portsmouth on April 23, 1980. She made her TV acting debut as a child in the 1987 miniseries Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story. She went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career: Bretton has starred in a number of TV shows, including Sunburn, The Office, Night & Day, Absolute Power, Blessed, and Green Wing, but she is better known for playing Lee Mack's love interest Lucy in the BBC comedy Not Going Out. Her film credits include Outlaw (2007).

Quote: "I tend to take quite heavy roles in the theatre and then muck about on telly."

Trivia: Bretton worked as a drama teacher at the Top Hat Stage and Screen School.

Hugh Dennis (Actor) .. Toby

Born: February 13, 1962 in Kettering

Best Known For: His regular slot on Mock the Week and The Now Show on Radio 4.

Early-life: Peter Hugh Dennis was born in Kettering on February 13, 1962. His father was Bishop of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich. Hugh read geography at Cambridge, where he joined the famous Footlights and met future comedy partner Steve Punt. After graduating, he worked at Unilever for six years. Hugh and Steve worked the comedy circuit, including London's Comedy Store. There, they were spotted by Jasper Carrott, who offered the pair a slot on his show Carrott Confidential.

Career: Punt and Dennis moved on to work on The Mary Whitehouse Experience, alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel, before branching out into their own radio series, It's Been A Bad Week and the hugely popular The Now Show. Over the years, Dennis has appeared in a string of comedy shows, including The Imaginatively Titled Punt and Dennis Show, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You. As well as keeping busy with plenty of voice-over work, Dennis is also an accomplished actor. His CV boasts roles in My Hero and the popular sitcom Outnumbered. He has been involved with The Now Show on Radio 4 since 1998.

Quote: "Everyone's careers go at different paces; you need to forget what other people are doing and concentrate on your own progress."

Trivia: Away from performing, in 2007, Dennis took part in a mountain stage of the Tour de France.

Abigail Cruttenden (Actor) .. Anna

Geoffrey Whitehead (Actor) .. Geoffrey

Deborah Grant (Actor) .. Wendy

Bobby Ball (Actor) .. Frank

Born: January 28, 1944 in Oldham, Lancashire

Best Known For: Being half of the comedy double act Cannon and Ball.

Early-life: Born Robert Harper in Oldham, Lancashire, on January 28, 1944. He developed a passion for showbusiness at an early age, but decided to get a "proper" job so he worked in a factory as a welder. There he met future comedy partner Thomas Derbyshire. The pair clicked and formed the double act Cannon and Ball. Honing their craft in the pubs and clubs of Britain, they enjoyed TV fame thanks to BBC's Seaside Special and ITV's The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club.

Career: Eventually, Cannon and Ball impressed ITV bosses enough to land their own series. Throughout the 1980s they were one of the hottest comedy acts in showbusiness, with their show Cannon & Ball running from 1979 to 1988. By the 1990s their popularity was on the wane. In 2005, Bobby appeared with Tommy Cannon in the fifth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! In recent years Bobby has starred in a number of sitcoms and dramas, including The Fattest Man in Britain, Last of the Summer Wine, Mount Pleasant, Not Going Out and The Security Men. In 2012, he was a contestant on the Christmas edition of Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: Regarding his comedy partnership with Tommy Cannon: "People say that we're icons but I just see myself as someone who goes on and makes people laugh."

Trivia: A devout Christian, Ball divides his time between touring, appearing on TV and performing in gospel shows.

Francesca Newman (Actor) .. Molly

Max Pattison (Actor) .. Benji

Finley Southby (Actor) .. Charlie

Max Willis (Actor) .. Jack

Keith Barron (Actor) .. Michael

Born: August 08, 1936 in Mexborough, South Yorkshire

Best Known For: Sitcom Duty Free.

Early-life: Born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, on August 8, 1936, he was the son of a wholesale provisions merchant who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Barron said a sadistic teacher fear forced him to leave school, pushing him into acting. After National Service in the RAF, he joined an amateur dramatics group also attended by Brian Blessed. That led to training at Sheffield Playhouse and his first job with a repertory company in the city, earning £1 a week.

Career: Barron later moved to London, where he performed in several Dennis Potter plays in the West End. His TV debut came in a 1961 episode of The Avengers. It was the small screen plays Stand Up Nigel Barton, and Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton, both by Potter, that brought him to people's attention in the mid-1960s. His best-known work is on TV, but he has starred in films including The Land That Time Forgot, At The Earth's Core, Nothing But the Night and Voyage Of The Damned. His biggest success came playing philandering husband David in 1980s sitcom Duty Free. He went on to appear in Close Relations, Take Me Home, Where the Heart Is, NCS Manhunt, Brief Encounters and Being Eileen. He died on November 15, 2017 at the age of 83.

Quote: On being an actor: "You take nothing for granted. The best thing about it is being offered another job. It keeps the whole thing alive."

Trivia: In 2014, Barron toured with fellow original cast members Gwen Taylor and Neil Stacey in a stage version of Duty Free.

Daniel Peak (Writer)

Jamie Rix (Producer)

Nick Wood (Director)

Not Going Out: The True Meaning of Christmas

03:50 am - 05:00 am, Today on U&Dave ja vu (74)

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The True Meaning of Christmas
Season 8, Episode 8

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