Car Share: Will they or won't they?

The last ever episode of the comedy, penned by and starring Bolton funnyman Peter, airs on BBC1 at 10pm tonight (Monday), preceded by the final episode of the second series.

When series two ended and Peter announced there were going to be no more new episodes, viewers were devastated and even started an online petition, which gathered more than 100,000 signatures.

"We were completely overwhelmed by the response and even though we've no plans to write a third series we knew we couldn't end the story there,” said Peter.

Peter Kay and co-star Sian Gibson have been reflecting on the success of the series in a question and answer session, which follows.

The end of the last series had viewers screaming at the TV. Will this new episode have the same affect?
Peter: Who knows? I just hope they won’t be screaming at the telly again.
Sian: Even I was screaming at the telly and I knew what happened.

Were you surprised to hear that fans had set up a petition demanding ‘more Car Share?’
Sian: Yes, that was crazy.
Peter: You’d never believe that it’d ever have that kind of effect. A petition!
Sian: I signed it... twice.

But people really do care about the characters...
Peter: Yes, and that is incredibly flattering. We always knew the second series would end that way and we thought people might be a bit miffed, but we never thought they would be so devastated. We decided to write another episode that hopefully gave the characters a resolve and I thought, let's hold this back until the repeat of the second series. It was hard to keep it a secret after the reaction we got, but we never said that there wouldn’t be any more Car Share... we just said there wouldn’t be a third series.

What has been the funniest scene to film?
Sian: The scenes when we were dressed as Harry Potter and Hagrid giving Elsie the female Smurf a lift home from a work do.
Peter: Oh yeah, they were almost as hard as the ones with Reece Shearsmith as Stink Ray in the first series. You are just constantly cracking up laughing.

Conleth Hill, who plays Lord Varys in Game Of Thrones, plays Elsie - how did that piece of casting come about?
Sian: Whilst writing that episode we kept thinking about female actors like Julie Walters or Kathy Burke, but then Peter suggested Conleth.
Peter: Conleth and I became very good friends after I met him while I was in The Producers. I really think he’s one of the funniest, most naturally talented people I know. He had already played Geraldine's Mum in Britain’s Got The Pop Factor so I knew he could play a woman and I thought it’d be a lot of fun. Luckily he wasn't working on Game Of Thrones so was able to do it.

Sian: You’ve never seen Game Of Thrones have you?
Peter: No.
Sian: It’s amazing.
Peter: So I hear.
Sian: You'd love it.
Peter: I saw a bit of one once, some bloke with a cage tied to his face getting his nose gnawed off by a rat.
Sian: Oh, that only happened once.
Peter: Once was enough. I was eating my tea! There was no need.
Sian: There’s lots of rudey-doody in it.
Peter: Rudey-doody?
Sian: Shagging!
Peter: I know what you mean! Anyway I don’t want to know that, my Mum watches it.
So where were we…?
Sian: You were talking about Conleth.
Peter: Oh yeah! He was hilarious and we just couldn’t film the scenes for laughing, we even had to come back the next night to finish filming it and it we still laughed! There are some great out-takes.

Sian, what will you miss the most about John & Kayleigh?
Sian: I'll miss all the fun we have filming, but as I see Peter all the time it doesn't feel like they've gone away.
Peter: You don’t see me all the time!
Sian: Well we speak nearly every day.
Peter: We do but I haven’t been over to your house in ages.
Sian: I prefer coming to yours.
Peter: I know, cause you get waited on hand and foot.
Sian: As if, when?
Peter: How many salmon stir-fries did I make when we were writing?
Sian: How should I know?
Peter: You see I won’t miss John and Kayleigh... we’re right here.
Sian: True (laughing)

What’s your fondest memory of working on the show?
Sian: I like filming a lot but I really enjoyed writing the series. We’d meet up at Paul’s or Peter’s and have something to eat.
Peter: See, salmon stir-fry again!
Sian: Alright, salmon stir-fry, what’s the big deal?
Peter: Hold on, how many times did Paul and me come writing at your house?
Sian: Loads of times (mumbling)
Peter: How many?
Sian: Tons (muttering).
Peter: How about never!!
Sian: Well it was nice for me to have a day out and come over and see you both. Anyway we got it written didn’t we?
Peter: We did (laughing). I love the whole process, from start to finish, but editing is my favourite. One person who shouldn’t be overlooked is Matt Brown - he edited the whole series and creatively he added a lot of detail. I’ll miss working with him until the next project.

Which is?
Peter: Er…..
(Sian and Peter look at each other)
Sian: That’d be telling?

Ah, so will you be working together again?
Peter: Hopefully.
Sian: Definitely.
Peter: Definitely. Right I better get some salmon in.
Sian: Fab, I’ll bring the stir-fry round.
(they both laugh)

Finally, is this really the last ever Car Share?
Sian: Never say never.
Peter: Well, unless you’re waiting on an invite to Sian’s house.
Sian: Leave it (laughing).