Old Acquaintance

Old Acquaintance is the fifth episode of the eleventh series of Not Going Out and aired on 22nd January 2021.

Synopsis
When Lee joins Facebook for the first time and is contacted by an ex-girlfriend from 20 years ago, Lucy is annoyed that she cares so much. Her feelings are complicated by the sudden reappearance of a friend from university, with whom she had a brief relationship. Threatened by fond memories from the past, Lee and Lucy start behaving badly.

Plot
Lucy (Sally Bretton) has found an old friend from university, Ben (William Andrews), on Facebook and invited him over to the house to meet her and Lee (Lee Mack). Following Ben's visit, Lucy decides to encourage Lee to sign up to social media and find some old friends of his own. One friend messages him to meet up for a drink, who turns out to be his ex-girlfriend of a few months, Karen (Katy Cavanagh). Lucy shows some signs of jealousy when Lee talks about Karen, but she wants Lee to meet up with her anyway. Karen visits the house and Lee begins to adapt his posture and voice to behave like a northener, which makes Lucy suspicious. Karen let slip that they were actually together for 18 months, and Lucy starts to question Lee after Karen leaves. After advice from Anna (Abigail Cruttenden), Lucy allows Lee to continue to stay in touch with Karen, as well as inviting her back to the house for dinner. During the meal, Karen then let slip that they actually got engaged, which infuriates Lucy. Lee then decides to apologise to Lucy about his behaviour around Karen, saying he never wants to see her again. Ben then turns up at the house, and lets slip about his and Lucy's past relationship which was unknown to Lee, enraging him. Lee then decides to go on a date with Karen, while Lucy turns up during the meal with Ben on their own date. After clearly making their points clear to each other, Lucy and Lee make up in the restaurant and leave Karen and Ben to get on together.

Main cast

 * Lee Mack as Lee
 * Sally Bretton as Lucy
 * Abigail Cruttenden as Anna
 * Hugh Dennis as Toby

Secondary cast

 * Katy Cavanagh as Karen
 * William Andrews as Ben

Crew

 * Producer - Jamie Rix
 * Writer - Lee Mack
 * Writer - Daniel Peak