Driven to distraction, why Car Share is a triumph by Linda Roberts

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Peter Kay and Sian Gibson in Car Share on BBC 1. Photographer: Matt Squire

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a new programme on BBC1 called Car Share, purely by accident.


Peter Kay’s Car Share – Episode 1 by UK TV Catch up

It was a stroke of luck, because otherwise I would have missed the subtle and sublime performances by Peter Kay and Sian Gibson.

Peter Kay and Sian Gibson in Car Share on BBC 1. Photographer: Matt Squire
Peter Kay and Sian Gibson in Car Share on BBC 1. Photographer: Matt Squire

The basic premise is that when the supermarket they work for  issues a new car share scheme, John and Kayleigh are forced to commute together each day. It’d basically a two hander, set around their journey to and from work.

On paper, that would look boring, but it’s so well written and acted that you find yourself getting more and more interested in these two singletons, and I’m already harbouring hopes that the characters eventually get together, though hopefully, after a lot more car journeys.

In the first episode, Dave manages to get Kayleigh’s urine sample all over him, just as he’s set for an appraisal at work.

And Kayleigh’s naivety about the word dogging has all kinds of repercussions.

One of my favourite actors Reece Shearsmith had a cameo part as a mad colleague who works on the fish counter at the supermarket in the third episode. And there is eye candy for the girls in the shape of the new trolley collector, who Kayleigh drools after.

Peter Kay and Sian Gibson play off perfectly against each other, his sniggering and eye rolling when she makes silly comments are hilarious, but Sian is fantastic as Kayleigh, who constantly dreams of meeting her Mr Right and having her babies as her body clock is racing forward.

In the close quarters of the car, there obviously has to be a lot of focus on the characters’ faces and they are both such brilliant, comedic actors, that every nuance of the conversation is reflected in their expressions.

The radio station Forever FM constantly playing in the background is also hilarious with its spoof ads.

If you haven’t seen any of the episodes yet, they’re available on BBC iPlayer, they’re well worth a view, in fact it’s my favourite programme on the box at the moment.

In this Wednesday’s episode, John has had a hands free phone kit fitted in his car, but he arrives at Kayleigh’s house to discover she is far more excited by the previous night’s events.

Car Share, BBC, Wednesdays, 9.30pm.