David Farnor | On 10, May 2017

Peter Kay’s Car Share has become the BBC’s biggest comedy of 2017, racing past 10 million views on iPlayer.

The second season of the show was release all-at-once on BBC iPlayer last month, alongside its first episode – and viewers have sped through them with hitting the brakes. Since its debut on 11th April, figures show that the full series has now exceeded 10.6 million requests (including streams and downloads), a run-away success for BBC iPlayer and the most-requested comedy of 2017.

The box set, though, isn’t going anywhere yet. Indeed, even though the series came to an end on BBC One last week, new viewers are still joining the series, with the first instalment racking up 300,000 new views after the broadcast of its final chapter.

“The show has found its gear,” we wrote in our review of Season 2. “Gone are the gags about poking people on Facebook, replaced by more up-to-date nods to YouTube, while the repetitive routine of their morning travel has been disrupted – not by cameos from supporting characters, but by life itself… Peter Kay’s likeable sitcom races its way right into your heart.”

Shane Allen, controller comedy commissioning for the BBC, says: “The record-breaking response to Car Share has been phenomenal. Audiences have come at the show from all angles – watching on BBC One and as a full series, and to have such enormous figures for BBC iPlayer alone shows how the public have taken these characters to their hearts.”

“We’ve been blown away by the reception for our little show. All we wanted was to make something feel-good and happy so it’s really wonderful it connected with so many people,” adds Kay.

The comedian has since confirmed that there will not be a third season of BBC iPlayer.

 

Peter Kay’s Car Share will not return for Season 3

3rd May 2017

Car Share will not return for Season 3, Peter Kay has confirmed.

The show, which has twice been released as a full box set on BBC iPlayer, has been a drive-away success for the Beeb, with episodes repeatedly breaking streaming records on the catch-up service. Despite that success, though, Kay has revealed that the comedy will not be renewed for another run – and that there will also be no Christmas special.

Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester, who asked if he would ever switch from Forever FM to the regional Beeb station, he said: “There’s not going to be a series three so it won’t ever happen. You’ve got to get out while the going’s good. No Christmas special, no.”

The show follows the blossoming relationship between assistant manager John Redmond (Peter Kay) and promotions assistant Kayleigh Kitson (Sian Gibson), who were forced to share a car to work in Season 1. In Season 2, John finds himself making a long detour each day to keep up their daily commute and the personal journey they find themselves on. Why not continue to chart their budding romance?

“I am absolutely delighted and overwhelmed by everybody’s support and the fact that everyone’s loved it so much has been wonderful for everyone who’s made it, but you’re better quitting while you’re ahead,” Kay explained. “There’s only so much you can do in a car and the last thing you want to do is ruin it because I think it’s a lovely thing.”

“It’s been wonderful working with Sian, who’s one of my closest friends in the world. We have a good laugh but I think sometimes you’ve got to just leave things,” he added.

“You need good ideas – that’s the problem. You need good strong stories. A lot of series tend to go on for one series too many, especially with comedies, and I think people say ‘ooh, it’s gone off, that’.”

Nonetheless, he has said that he might go back to revive his Channel 4 comedy Phoenix Nights in the future.

“I would love to go back. I’ve got a lot of ideas about Phoenix Nights,” he commented. “In fact there’s a whole series three been written for about 15 years but so many things get in the way in life like touring and being a father. Real life continues and Car Share takes about a year to make and edit.”

Season 2 of the programme is still available to binge-watch as a box set on BBC iPlayer. You can read our review of it here.

 

Car Share box set breaks BBC iPlayer records… again

14th April 2017

Season 2 of Peter Kay’s Care Share has broken BBC iPlayer records again this week.

Only three days since the box set of the second run was released – alongside Episode 1’s premiere on BBC One – and the show has amassed over 2.5 million requests. The four episodes now occupy the top four slots of requested programmes on BBC iPlayer – the first time this has ever happened.

6.5 million people tuned in to see the show’s BBC One debut on Tuesday, with a further 1.5 million watching on repeat since then.

Peter Kay says: “All we wanted to do is make happy television and it seems viewers are enjoying the happiness that Car Share is offering.”

Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning, adds: “We’re knocked for six with the huge audiences and love for the new series. Audiences are coming at it from all angles… I couldn’t be more chuffed for Peter and Sian who have poured so much of themselves in to this special series.”

Season 2 of Car Share picks up on the blossoming relationship between assistant manager John Redmond (Peter Kay) and promotions assistant Kayleigh Kitson (Sian Gibson), who were forced to share a car to work in Season 1. Now, John now finds himself making a long detour each day to keep up their daily commute and the personal journey they find themselves on.

The success of the box set marks a growing trend for BBC iPlayer, which is increasingly releasing shows all-at-once to compete with rival VOD services, such as Netflix. Recent box sets include Taboo and Apple Tree Yard, which also drew strong streaming figures.

Allen acknowledges that Car Share’s success “marks a big moment for how we release our shows”.

 

Car Share Season 2 will race onto BBC iPlayer as box set

6th April 2017

Season 2 of Peter Kay’s Car Share will once again race onto BBC iPlayer as a box set next week.

The show, which premiered exclusively on BBC iPlayer in 2015, became the most-watched BBC One’s most-watched new sitcom since 2011. As a box set, it received 3 million iPlayer requests in its first four days alone, before the series transmitted on BBC One to over six million viewers. It went on to win Best Scripted Comedy at the BAFTA Television Awards, with Peter Kay taking home the award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy.

Now, Season 2 will get the box set treatment again, with the show’s second run being made available all at once on Tuesday 11th April, immediately following its premiere at 9pm on BBC One. The season will continue to air weekly at 9pm.

The show stars Peter Kay as John Redmond, the assistant manager at a supermarket, and Sian Gibson as promotions assistant Kayleigh Kitson, who are forced to commute together in a car share scheme. Season 2 sees the pair reluctantly having to make the daily commute to work separately, with Kayleigh having moved in with her sister. But will she manage to resist temptation or call her old Car Share buddy John?

The pair were surprised by the success of the show.

“Even though I know how much people love Peter, I was still worried that they would just be bored with the two of us stuck in a car and I might be responsible for Peters first TV flop. So overwhelmed at how much everybody enjoyed the show and the characters,” comments Gibson.

“I always believed in Car Share but like Sian I was always worried that viewers may not have the patience to stay with such a simple idea of two people commuting to work, especially in the this fast paced day and age with so many options to watch, so yes I was completely surprised,” says Kay.

They are, however, no strangers to binge-watching and the BBC iPlayer release makes sense to both of them.

“Viewers love to binge watch and it’s great being able to watch as many episodes as you like in one sitting,” says Kay.

“I do that, I watched the full series of The Missing in one day,” comments Gibson.

“I know it tipped you over the edge,” adds Kay.

With Car Share the most-watched new sitcom of 2015, was there additional pressure when writing the new series?

“No, not at all because we’d already written most of the new series in 2014,” says Kay, “which was a bit of a gamble as we didn’t know if the BBC would want a second series but we just loved spending the time writing it together.”

 

 

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