NEW Peter Kay comedy show Car Share could be commissioned for a second series after the BBC declared the show a runaway success.

The show, which had its finale on Friday night after a six-episode run, was the biggest sitcom to premiere on any TV channel since 2011, according to viewing figures.

Figures show that 6.85 million viewers tuned in for the opening episode, with another 2.5 million watching the show on the BBC iPlayer.

The show tells the story of John Redmond, played by Peter, who is forced into a company car share scheme alongside his colleague Kayleigh, played by Sian Gibson, and the pair's friendship develops during the series.

Shane Allen, the BBC’s comedy commissioning controller, told The Guardian newspaper: “Car Share was the first BBC commission I got away on arrival, so it’s always been very close to my heart.

"Peter works so hard and this is the first narrative where he’s played a naturalistic version of himself. His friendship and chemistry with Sian Gibson is genuine and comes across really endearingly on screen.

"Peter’s back in Cradle to Grave on BBC Two this autumn – another warm-hearted comedy which I’m very excited about.”

Car Share was co-created by Peter Kay and Paul Coleman, with whom he has previously worked as script editor for Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere and co-writing Britain's Got the Pop Factor.

Mr Colman said he was influenced by previous shows which featured just two characters.

"I started playing around with ideas that involved two people in a single setting," he told The Independent.

"A father and son living in a scrapyard, two prisoners doing porridge, two girls one cup... sadly everything seemed to have been done before.

"The brainwave came one day when I was walking to work, watching all the commuters in their cars, making the same journey they had made countless times before.

"That was the answer, two people in a car, on their way to and from work.

"To inject a bit of tension, the couple would be forced to do this by a new company-wide car-sharing initiative, and wouldn't really know each other. The sit of the sitcom was born."

The show also features the fictional radio station Forever FM, which is presented by DJ Rob Charles, who is from Chorley and works at 107 The Bee, which broadcasts in East Lancashire.

* All six episodes of Car Share are available to watch on the BBC iPlayer.