Smash hit comedian Peter Kay is set to appear on BBC One in a Solihull writer’s first ever sitcom.
The huge star, who was reputed to have earned £20 million in 2011 from DVD and ticket sales, liked the script by Tim Reid so much that he signed up to star in and direct it.
Filming is set to get under way on Car Share, which will also make history by being the first BBC programme to be available initially on the corporation’s on-demand service, iPlayer, before it is broadcast on BBC One.
The programme will be part of a trial in which 40 hours of programming will be made available online first.
Car Share has been co-written by Mr Reid, from Solihull, and Paul Coleman, two business consultants who discovered a shared passion for comedy after working together.
Mr Reid admitted the whole process had been something of a rollercoaster ride after Peter Kay came on board.
He said: “Paul had worked with Peter Kay before on Britain’s Got the Pop Factor and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere and we thought let’s show it to him and see what’s working and what is not.
“We were just hoping he would give us some feedback and opinions – whether it was a good idea or not and whether the writing was good enough or not.
“That was our hope – just to get his view on what we had done.
“So it was a real thrill when he came back and said not only did he really like it but wanted to get involved too.
“He loved the idea and asked us if we wanted him to work with us on it and you don’t say no to that – he is the best there is. It has been a complete gift to us.
“If anyone knows how to write, direct and perform comedy it is Peter Kay – he is the best in the business.”
The project, which initially had to be put on hold as Peter Kay was midway through the Tour That Doesn’t Tour Tour, is the first time he has worked with the BBC. Best known for his hugely successful stand-up tours and Channel 4 sitcoms like Phoenix Nights, he will star and direct in the six half-hour episodes of Car Share.
The series, backed by Kay’s own production company, Goodnight Vienna, follows the trials and tribulations of work colleagues John and Kayleigh, who are forced into a car sharing scheme by their employer for the daily commute to work at an out-of-town supermarket.
Kayleigh will be played by newcomer Sian Gibson, with Mr Kay taking the role of John.
Mr Reid, a former pupil of Solihull School and father of two, said: “Myself and Paul were both interested in writing comedy and sitcoms, and came up with idea of a car share.
“We loved self-contained character-based situations like Porridge and Rising Damp, which focus on the characters and how they interact .
“We hit on the idea of a car share where two characters would be in a very tight situation and thrown together.
“So we thought let’s write it, let’s have a go. It came together very quickly. We got into the idea of who the characters were and wrote it really quickly. Before we knew where we were we had written six episodes.
“We started writing it about two years ago and we wrote the first six episodes in about three months, because you get so into it. We found once we had got into the characters and they started bouncing off each other, it kind of wrote itself beautifully.
“John and Kayleigh are very different kinds of people. He is a steady Eddie who has been working in the job for a while and is just content with his lot.
“Kayleigh is a bit more of a fun-loving extrovert and probably more chatty than John would like her to be first thing in the morning.”
A former advertising copywriter for McCann Erikson in Manchester Mr Reid and Mr Coleman met while working for innovation company What If.
“It was a company which helped companies have better ideas, though we have since set up on our own, a company called Sparks Fire,” he added.
He confessed he always had a desire to write comedy.
“I had dabbled in trying to write a comedy novel,” he said. “I sent off three chapters to lots of agencies and one said it liked like the style and the idea and that I should write some more. In the end nothing came of it though.”
The fact Car Share will be premiered on iPlayer aspect is an added bonus for Mr Reid, who said: “It is something that has never been done before and is really interesting. It really appeals to the innovation consultant in me – being the first time and trying something new. It also means people will be seeking it out rather than stumbling across it. That is quite exciting.
“I’m also I am thrilled it is going to be on BBC One eventually too, for a first time sitcom writer like me that is incredible.”
Mr Reid’s comedy writing partnership is flourishing further as he and Mr Coleman are already working on their second television sitcom and are in discussions about it being put into production.
At the moment they are combining their comedy writing with innovation consultancy work, trying to balance the two.
“Innovation consultancy is about helping companies and brands be more creative and have bigger, better ideas,” said Mr Reid. “We have worked with the likes of Carling, Unilver, Coca Cola, Nestle and even the BBC, those kinds of brands, helping them become better innovators.
“We do use some of the skills we use in our writing to develop ideas for their brands and train people how to be creative.
“It is still the day job but we are doing it for ourselves so we can find the balance to write as well. The two things go hand in hand. It’s like practising what we preach, using creative behaviours and skills to develop our own ideas as well as helping companies to do it for themselves.”
Speaking about his involvement in the new show Peter Kay said: “To be finally working with the BBC on a new comedy is a great opportunity. The idea of two people car sharing to work each day really appealed to me, as it highlights the comedy in the minutia of the daily trek and allows the spiralling conversations of life to unwind in all of their glory.”
Mr Reid said Car Share with Peter Kay on board was the opportunity of a lifetime.
“It is a privilege. There is just so much you can learn from him as we go through the whole process of producing this.
“Is he a help and an inspiration? Definitely. Is it daunting working with Peter Kay? Funnily enough, no. It was such a big opportunity to learn that I thought of it as way more exciting than daunting.”
The series is expected to be available on iPlayer later this year and broadcast on BBC One.
