David Farnor | On 30, Apr 2015

Peter Kay’s Car Share has broken records with its BBC iPlayer premiere this week.

The sitcom, which follows an odd couple of work colleagues taking part in their company’s car share scheme, premiered in full on the BBC streaming service on Friday 24th April at 9pm. All six episodes were available to watch until Wednesday 29th April, when the show premiered on BBC One.

Audiences raced through the series, the BBC has announced, with 2.8 million requests for the programme to date. This makes Peter Kay’s Car Share BBC iPlayer’s most successful series to premiere as a box-set to date, with Episode 1 racking up over 1 million requests.

The last time the BBC premiered a show as a box set online was BBC Three’s Jonah From Tonga in May 2014. Across the month, Episode 1 picked up 1.2 million requests, although none of the later episodes made it past the 1 million mark. Kay’s BBC One show, on the other hand, was watched in full by many users within its four-day window, says the BBC, with all six episodes making it to the service’s “Most Popular” section over the weekend.

“I’ve been blown away by the response so far. How could I not be. Here’s hoping the success continues and people enjoy the series Wednesday and Thursday on BBC One… at half nine,” says Kay.

Shane Allen, Controller of Comedy Commissioning, adds: “This is a phenomenal reaction which shows how excited audiences are to see Peter in his first scripted comedy for the BBC. We’re so proud of the show and it’s heartening that comedy does so well in the new on-demand world. All credit to Peter for his innovative approach with this series launch which hopefully gives it a following wind for the primetime launch on BBC One tonight.”

The release formed part of BBC iPlayer’s trial to premiere 40 hours of BBC content. Its success follows a record-breaking year for BBC iPlayer, with 3.5 billion TV and radio programme requests in 2014.

Missed Car Share on iPlayer? Episodes will be added each week following their Wednesday and Thursday broadcasts on BBC One. You can read our review of the show here.

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