How Not to Live Your Life (styled in the opening credits as "how NOT to live your life") is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark that aired between 27 September 2007 and 22 December 2011 on BBC Three, about a pessimistic twenty-nine-year-old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. After a pilot, the show debuted in 2008 with moderate ratings but grew over the course of the three series, doubling its ratings each series because of its cult following. The third series got viewing figures of 1.5 million across the week and was the second most watched show on BBC iPlayer. When BBC Three controller Danny Cohen left the channel, new controller Zai Bennett cancelled several comedies, including How Not to Live Your Life.

Plot

Don is a pessimistic, single twenty-nine-year-old, failing to navigate his way through the very basics of life. His biggest enemy is his overactive mind, which plays out countless scenes of things he shouldn't do or say. When he moves into a house left to him by his recently deceased grandmother, he meets Eddie, her enthusiastic carer who doesn't want to leave. Don soon realises there are advantages to letting him stay. To help pay off the huge back payments on the house, Don decides to get a lodger. He ends up choosing Abby, the girl he was in love with as a teenager and whom he still fancies. However, Abby isn't single. She has a boyfriend Karl, who Don refers to as 'Kockface'.