Car Share

By markontour, June 4, 2015

I’ve been thinking it’s about time I blogged something serious about saving the world and the benefits of car sharing to reducing traffic congestion and pollution would be a worthy subject, but that’s for another day. Today I simply want to ask if am I alone in thinking that Peter Kay’s Car Share has been the best comedy on British television since Outnumbered last graced our screens?

It probably stopped being broadcast weeks ago because I only watch television via BBC i-player when I’m trying to switch off from work on planes and trains. But you can still watch at least three of the six episodes via that wonderful app and markontour’s advice is download them now!

Car Share is gentle stuff and making it won’t have made much of a dent in the licence fee, as most of the action takes place in supermarket assistant director, John Redmond’s (Kay), car as he ferries his colleague, promotions rep Kayleigh Kitson (played brilliantly by co-writer Sian Gibson), to and from work. Nevertheless it is full of laugh out loud moments, including in the episode I just watched a section where Kayleigh expresses incredulity that John believes in God, but then instantly loses her moment of superiority by tutting “you’ll be telling me dinosaurs existed next”.

I’m probably a bit soft, but what I like most about Car Share is that Kay and Gibson have created a pair of characters that you can laugh at, as well as with, and yet still come away liking them, rather than making people cringe in order to get a chuckle as seems to be the sit-com norm.

Actually that’s not true, what I like most about Car Share are the Forever FM moments*, where John and Kayleigh duet to eighties and nineties hits. Today it was Tears for Fears’, ‘Everybody Wants to Rule The World’. “This song has never aged. Never aged.” profers Kay as his face first registers mild embarrassment that he and Kayleigh are singing together and then breaks out into a smile at the pleasure of sharing a great tune. I’m almost looking forward to my next departure lounge and the excuse to watch episode five!

* Now featuring its very own BBC Playlister compilation.