Kay gives Car Share fans a lift

It has been a few years coming, but Car Share fans will finally get the ending they wanted for John and Kayleigh on Bank Holiday Monday. Well, probably. Ever since the second series finished with Kayleigh declaring her feelings for John, while he remained non-committal, fans have clamoured for a proper happy ending.

Peter Kay, who co-writes and stars in the hit BBC1 comedy with Sian Gibson, admitted to being taken aback by the furore, which led to 100,000 viewers signing a petition begging for more.

“You’d never believe it’d ever have that kind of effect. A petition!” says Kay, as Sian admits she signed it – twice.

What fans really want is for the liftsharing supermarket colleagues to get together.

Kay hints fans will not be left gutted for a second time. “We thought people might be a bit miffed, but never thought they’d be so devastated,” he confesses. “We decided to write another episode that hopefully gave the characters a resolve.”

The episode is being billed as “the finale”, but Kay teased: “We never said there wouldn’t be any more Car Share… we just said there wouldn’t be a third series.”

Sian agrees: “Never say never.” Whatever happens, the pair seem certain to work together again. “Hopefully,” says Peter. “Definitely,” says 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.”

BBC comedy boss Shane Allen dropped strong hints that all those hoping for a romantic ending in the special, which airs at 10pm on Monday, will not be disappointed.

He says: “It’s about giving the audience what they want. It’s the perfect blend of hilarity and heart.”