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Don't Forget the Driver
Genre	Comedy drama
Directed by	Tim Kirkby
Starring	Toby Jones Erin Kellyman Jo Eaton-Kent Luwam Teklizgi Danny Kirrane Dino Kelly Marcia Warren Claire Rushbrook Jo Hartley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Production company	Sister Pictures
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	9 April (2019-04-09) – 14 May 2019 (2019-05-14)

Don't Forget the Driver is a 2019 BBC Two comedy series, co-created and co-written by Tim Crouch and Toby Jones, in which Jones also stars alongside Erin Kellyman. A second series was commissioned by the BBC for broadcast in 2020, but was delayed and then cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show is produced by Sister Pictures and distributed by BBC Studios.

Plot

Set in Bognor Regis, Jones plays Pete Green, a depressed single father who works as a coach driver and discovers an asylum seeker after taking a coach party across the channel.

Cast

• Toby Jones as Pete Green
• Erin Kellyman as Kayla Green
• Luwam Teklizgi as Rita
• Danny Kirrane as Squeaky Dave
• Jo Eaton-Kent as Bradley
• Dino Kelly as Lech
• Marcia Warren as Joy
• Claire Rushbrook as Fran
• Jo Hartley as Mel
• Bharti Patel as Manju

Episodes

Production

For the role, Jones took Coach Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) lessons and failed his test twice, once for driving too fast and once for going too slowly. In January 2020, Don't Forget the Driver was renewed for a second series of six episodes. However this was cancelled by the BBC due to the Covid-19 pandemic a decision Jones described as “heartbreaking”.

Broadcast

The six-part series began airing in the UK on BBC Two at 10pm on 9 April 2019 and continued weekly. The series performed well in the 10pm slot attracting over 2.2 millions viewers. The series was made available in its entirety on iPlayer on 9 April.

Reception

The show won the 2019 Venice TV Award for Best Comedy.

Notes

1. Viewers across the first 28 days of broadcast on TV, PC/laptop, tablet or smartphone are counted. Pre-transmission figures are included.

References

1. Bennett, Steve. "Don't Forget The Driver to make a return trip : News 2020 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
2. Dickson, Andrew (21 January 2020). "Toby Jones: 'Actors talking about acting? It makes you scream!'". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
3. "Don't Forget the Driver Series 2 cancelled because of Covid - News". British Comedy Guide. 14 May 2021.
4. "Don't Forget the Driver". Sister Pictures. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
5. ^ Lawson, Mark (4 April 2019). "Don't Forget the Driver: the show to help you come to terms with Brexit". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
6. ^ "BBC Two - Don't Forget the Driver - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
7. "Four-screen dashboard BARB". www.barb.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
8. "Don't Forget The Driver to make a return trip". Chortle. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
9. Jones, Ellen E. (6 December 2022). "People told us what a consolation it was' – Toby Jones on the return of Detectorists". The Guardian.
10. "When is Toby Jones comedy Don't Forget The Driver on TV?". Radio Times.
11. "Don't Forget The Driver Series 2 cancelled because of Covid". British Comedy Guide. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
12. "Don't Forget the Driver - Series 1: Episode 1" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
13. "Winners 2019".

External links

• Don't Forget the Driver at BBC Online
• Don't Forget the Driver at British Comedy Guide
• Don't Forget the Driver at IMDb

• 2019 British television series debuts
• 2019 British television series endings
• 2010s British comedy television series
• British English-language television shows
• Television productions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic