A comedy stalwart is set to star in the 15th series of Not Going Out.
Creator and star of the long-running sitcom Lee Mack appeared at the BBC Comedy Festival in Liverpool on Thursday night, where he spoke about the upcoming series.
He told the audience: “We’ve done an episode of Not Going Out with somebody playing themselves. It’s Nigel Planer from The Young Ones.”
He went on to add: “He’s playing himself. The idea is that my character wants to meet him.”
Talking about writing the part for Nigel, he said: “There were a couple of times when I was like, ‘Hmm, I don’t think Nigel Planer would say that’.
“It was very awkward!”
Nigel, 73, is best known for playing Neil in the sitcom The Young Ones, which aired in the mid-1980s.
He starred alongside comedy legends Adrian Edmondson and the late Rik Mayall.
The trio went on to appear in sitcom Filthy, Rich and Catflap together, which only lasted one season.
He has also narrated the children’s animated series Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids, and appeared in the likes of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in the West End.
Nigel is known as a comedy legend, having co-founded the London Comedy Store and The Comic Strip, and writing for the likes of Not The Nine O’Clock News.
Last year, he published his memoir Young Once: A Life Less Heavy.
The 15th series of Not Going Out will mark the show’s 20th anniversary.
It is the second-longest-running British sitcom in history, beaten only by Last Of The Summer Wine which ran for 37 years.
During the show’s third season, the BBC announced it would not return for a fourth.
The decision was then reversed when there was a surge in DVD sales and a fan petition online demanding it come back – which it did in 2011.
Lee Mack has starred in the entire run, alongside Sally Bretton, and is the only actor to have appeared in every episode since its inception.
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