Semi-Detached is more than just a half comedy!

As the star and co-writer of Not Going Out, which has now been on air for 14 years with more series confirmed, Lee Mack knows a thing or two about sitcoms.

Yet he admits that starring in the new series Semi-Detached has still been something of a learning curve.

If you missed the 2019 pilot, the series focuses on Stuart (Mack), a wedding DJ who is currently living with his much younger partner April (Ellie White) and their new baby in a cul-de-sac, where the neighbours include his ex-wife (Samantha Spiro) and her new husband (Patrick Baladi).

If that set up wasn’t unusual enough, the sitcom also has another selling point – each episode plays out in real time.

Mack explains: “What makes this show unusual is that 99 percent of the time the camera is following my character around…

“Every step is filmed to give a feeling of thirty minutes in a man’s life.

“And that’s the essence of what the show is, thirty minutes in a man’s life that’s falling apart.”

That puts some pressure on the leading man. Mack says: “The main challenge is that I’m in every single scene.

“I think there was one scene, the only time in the whole series, where the camera follows someone else.

“I’m not in every shot so sometimes it’s cut between different characters, but my character is in every scene.

“I used to complain that actors say ‘I’m tired’ but now I’m like ‘I’ll keep my mouth shut when actors complain it’s tiring.’”

But that wasn’t the only thing that made Semi-Detached more work for the stand-up.

There’s also the fact that for once, he’s not the writer – the series comes from David Crow and Oliver Maltman.

He says: “In Not Going Out, I write it so I turn up and know all the words already.

“Suddenly I had to remember all these lines which I hadn’t written which sounds really obvious but that’s not what I’ve done in the past.

“This time I had to be a proper actor.

“Well, I’ll let the viewers decide that.”

He adds: “I’ve spent the last 15 years writing my own sitcom, every episode I write with someone, and it’s so labour intensive.

“Most of my work life on that show is the writing, probably 90 percent of the hours is writing it, not actually performing in it.

“So, to let go of that and let someone else do that is both great and a bit of a challenge.”

And it’s an experience it seems he would be keen to repeat. He says: “I’m very lucky, I get a lot of offers to do things, but not in the acting world… I want to do more of that so this was my opportunity.

“I really liked the script, I liked the character and no one had the part yet.”

We get to see his acting chops in the opening episode, as Stuart gets ready for a make-or-break date with April, while also contending with interruptions from his inappropriate Dad (Clive Russell) and extortionist brother (Neil Fitzmaurice).

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