Lee (Not Going Out)

Lee (portrayed by Lee Mack) is an unambitious, lazy Northerner. He lives in London and previously was a tenant of Kate and then Lucy Adams after she bought the flat.

Following the break up of his best friend Timothy Adams and his partner Kate, Lee moved into the flat allegedly to help with the rent, however lacking stable employment he rarely contributed.

Career
Lee had a job as a christmas cracker stuffer. simultaneously he was convinced by Kate to go on a date with Lucy Moss, an author who had published an autobiography through the company Kate worked for. Despite the fact that Lucy been far too serious and that her frank and morose nature made him uncomfortable he continued to date her, spurred on by Kate's and Tim's comments that he couldn't handle a relationship with a serious woman. Lucy's nature started to rub off on Lee and he decided to start a line of crackers for more sombre occasions. Their relationship ended after she overheard him compare her to a suicidal tortoise, though Lucy was relieved as she felt he was "getting too serious". Lee also lost his job as one of his funeral jokes accidentally ended up in one of the Christmas crackers. ("Serious"). Lee becomes a car salesmen after he moves accommodations with his wife 'Lucy Adams' and kids: Charlie, Molly and Benji.

Personal life
Lee was home when Tim came looking for Kate to tell her his grandmother had died. Lee did his best to comfort Tim, even offering him a whiskey as it was the drink you drank for bereavement, though in the end he had to offer crème de menthe as they had no whiskey. Kate late convinced him to go see a therapist to make him more emotionally available. Lee found the experience uncomfortable as his use of humour as a defence mechanism was easily seen through by the therapist and to Lee's true feelings for Kate. The therapist suggested that Lee tell Kate how he really felt about her. Lee decided to attend Tim's grandmother's funeral after previously telling Tim he wouldn't as he never met Tim's grandmother. He accidentally interrupted the ceremony when his mobile phone went off playing the grossly inappropriate "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. At the wake Lee planned to tell Kate how he felt but was interrupted by Tim. Lee tried to lighten the mood by dressing up as Tim's Aunty Maurine, but it didn't go down well as Kate had knocked back Tim's advances. Tim told him to go and check up on Kate, but Lee decided to stay with Tim as they were bestfriends and Tim was clearly having a hard time. He later helped Tim home from the wake. Lee gave up his therapist deciding to go for a new tactical of "getting a grip". ("Death")

When Kate's more successful Australian friend, Ruth, visited Lee pretended to be Tim as Kate had not told Ruth they had broken up and her relationship was the only thing she had over Ruth. Lee struggled with the pretense, particularly with Tim's occupation. At night he joined Kate's in her bedroom, though he slept on the floor. The next day Tim turned up at the flat pretending to be Lee. At dinner when Tim learned that it was actually his and Kate's anniversary he told Ruth the truth, bring the charade to an end.

Lee worked handing out pamphlets, which saw him having to wear costumes, such as a parrot, a gorilla holding him in a cage and him in an eggshell been held by a giant rabbit. He was fired after he threw a child who was hassling him in a canal. ("Aussie")

Lee helped Kate prepare for her driving test by been her instructor and allowing her to drive his car. During the practice she backed into another car while parking and ran over a guide dog. The trip highly agitated Lee and Kate suggested he do something about his stress, to which Lee stated he didn't suffer from. Kate was not convinced by his claim and said she would not get into another car with him until he learned to deal with it. At the pub he had Tim give him a stress test from Nuts magazine, which he did poorly at. Lee accepted Kate's offer to teach him yoga, which he didn't take seriously resulting in Kate sending him for acupuncture. During his session he annoyed the acupuncturist by suggesting she was pregnant when she wasn't, insulting her French husband, and then by questioning the effectiveness of acupuncture, which resulted in the two getting into a brawl. Lee decided to use prescription medicine, which worked in calming him down. However, after Kate found out and crashed the car they were in he returned the pills. ("Stress")

From series two to five onwards, Lee and Tim are joined by Tim's sister Lucy Adams, a head hunter who has come back from ten years abroad. In the first episode of series two, Tim reminds Lee that he is selling the flat as Kate has gone back to America but obviously he is unable to buy it due to being unable to earn a steady income.

It isn't long before Lee finds he has feelings for his new landlady too. Once again there were barriers in the way of Lee having a relationship though - in this case it was the fact that Lucy already had a boyfriend, the rich and suave Guy. Lee doesn't make much of an attempt to hide what he thinks of Guy - taking the mickey out of his age soon becomes a habit. Guy and Lucy have since split up, but Lucy continued to have several encounters with other men causing Lee to further conceal his feelings. Despite Lucy's first appearance in episode 7, it wasn't until episode 52 when Lee finally admitted his love for Lucy and they get engaged. Lee marries Lucy in the episode Wedding. The couple have three children in the eight years following the wedding: Charlie, Benji and Molly and move out of The Flat into a detached house. Lee becomes a car salesman and Lucy a housewife.