After breaking a Guinness World Record for having the most successful comedy tour of all time, Peter Kay’s giving stand-up a break and making a return to the small screen with Peter Kay’s Car Share.

In the BBC One show, Peter plays John Redmond, a man forced into a company car share scheme alongside his colleague Kayleigh, played by Sian Gibson. With each trip the ‘travel buddies’ take, there’s a new insight into their lives, and comic twists for our viewing pleasure.

The Lancashire-born funnyman, 41, has appeared in many beloved shows and sold-out tours, winning awards including the coveted Rose d’Or (for Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere).

From cameo roles in Coronation Street to writing and starring in British Comedy Award-winner Phoenix Nights, here’s a look at some of Kay’s most memorable appearances.

:: Corrie (1997 and 2004)

Peter Kay with Sally Lindsay (Granada TV)
Peter Kay with Sally Lindsay (Granada TV)

Peter played two different characters on the Corrie cobbles. In 1997, he played a shopfitter, who was involved in refurbishing the Corner Shop when its opening was sabotaged. He also played Eric Gartside, who turned up at the Rovers Return for a date with Shelley Unwin (played by real-life friend Sally Lindsay) in 2004. After taking Shelley on a date, Eric took her home for a cup of tea and his mum, Dolly, greeted them in her dressing gown. Shelley made a hasty exit and turned down red-faced Eric’s offer of another meet-up, telling him to shake off his overbearing mother.

:: That Peter Kay Thing (2000)

Peter showed his versatility as an actor when he played a whopping 15 different characters (both male and female) throughout That Peter Kay Thing. Plot lines from the series were said to be based around real-life experiences from his life. Characters included Mr Softy Top, an ice-cream man who hates children, and Max, an incompetent club bouncer, along with colleague and friend Paddy, played by Take Me Out’s Paddy McGuinness.

:: Phoenix Nights (2001 – 2002)

Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights cast
(Channel 4)

A cast made up entirely of stand-up comics meant Phoenix Nights was never going to be anything less than a huge success. Written mainly by Peter, the award-winning show was centred in the same Bolton club, The Phoenix Club, featured in That Peter Kay Thing. The action centres around Brian Potter (Peter), the disabled, tight-fisted boss who is obsessed with outdoing his nemesis Den Perry, who owns rival club The Banana Grove, the most popular nightspot in Bolton.

:: Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere (2004)

Paddy McGuinness (Ian West/PA)
Paddy McGuinness (Ian West/PA)

Following on from the success of Phoenix Nights, Peter created the spin-off show, Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere. It followed the Bolton bouncers as they travelled around Britain in a campervan. Arguments and comedy gold ensued – such as in episode one, when the pair buy a television from crook Gypsy Joe (aka Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll) and then realise that it doesn’t have any speakers. Exactly why they are on the open road is never mentioned in the series.

:: Doctor Who (2006)

The star had a role in the hit show in 2006 playing sinister Victor Kennedy, who is in fact an alien called The Abzorbaloff – a monster with the ability to absorb living beings by touching them. The Abzorbaloff, who was designed by a child who’d won a Blue Peter competition, also takes on his victims’ memories and knowledge, making him a powerful threat. Seeking to absorb the Doctor, he disguises himself as Victor. Although the episode, Love & Monsters, was a comic one, the role was a little more serious than Kay’s usual characters.

:: Britain’s Got The Pop Factor… (2008)

Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got the Pop Factor… And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice, was a two-part spoof show created, written, directed, produced by and starring the funnyman. The whole show was a comic take on the nation’s obsession with talent contests, with Peter playing Geraldine McQueen, a contestant who had gone through gender reassignment surgery. A single, The Winner’s Song, penned by the comedian and Gary Barlow, was released and reached number two in the charts.

Peter Kay’s Car Share begins on BBC One on April 29