''Carpool'' is a web series presented by English actor and comedian

Robert Llewellyn Robert Llewellyn (born 10 March 1956) is a British actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He plays the mechanoid Kryten in the sci-fi television sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and formerly presented the engineering gameshow ''Scrapheap Challenge''. He ...

. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car (normally a

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...

hybrid electric vehicle A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system ( hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intende ...

). The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

Ade Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series '' The Young Ones'' (1 ...

. However, Llewellyn also interviews less-well-known figures as long as he feels that they will prove to be an interesting subject. The guests also included Llewellyn's fellow ''

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...

'' actors,

Danny John Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Milton Wordsworth in The Story Makers and ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington which are both children's series. Also he played in ''Maid Maria ...

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

Chris Barrie Chris Barrie (born Christopher Jonathan Brown, 28 March 1960) is a British actor, comedian, and impressionist. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show ''Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in th ...

and

Hattie Hayridge Hattie Hayridge (born 17 December 1959) is a British comedian and actress, best known for the role of the female version of Holly (Red Dwarf), Holly in ''Red Dwarf'' during the third, fourth and fifth series. She was described as a "cult figure ...

(as well as

Tony Hawks Antony Gordon Hawksworth, MBE (born February 27, 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and Bright ...

, Arthur Smith and

Ruby Wax Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on t ...

who all appeared in cameo roles in ''Red Dwarf'', while

Ed Bye Edward Richard Morrison Bye (born 12 June 1955) is a British film and TV producer and director. He directed the episodes of the science-fiction sitcom '' Red Dwarf'' from Series I-IV and VII-VIII. Early life Ed Bye is the son of Royal Marine Co ...

, the show's producer/director, was the first person interviewed for the series). Llewellyn has also reunited with his ''

Scrapheap Challenge ''Scrapheap Challenge'' is a British television show where teams of contestants build a working machine that can perform a specific task, using materials available in a scrapyard. The series features teams of four or five members who are given ...

'' co-hosts,

Cathy Rogers Cathy Rogers (born 28 May 1968) is an English television executive, producer, presenter and musician. She is best known as the presenter of the British reality competition series '' Scrapheap Challenge'' and its American counterpart ''Junkyar ...

and

Lisa Rogers Lisa Rogers (born 7 September 1971) is a Welsh television presenter. She has appeared in films, television programmes, theatre and radio. Early life While at school, she took jobs in a chocolate factory, as a farrier, and, while studying drama at ...

for interviews. The show was filmed using small cameras mounted within the car. Llewellyn drives his guest to a destination of their choosing as they talk informally about a variety of subjects. As Llewellyn is driving for the majority of the time, it can be difficult to deal with technical problems especially interference from mobile phones. Occasionally, as in the Lisa Rogers episode, outside events such as being stopped by police interrupt the discussions. The

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, based on the web format, has been developed by RDF. Funded and sponsored by Toyota, Carpool was first broadcast on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

on 4 November 2010. Carpool has been shortlisted for best content partnership in Broadcast Awards.

Episodes

Dave series guests

Technical failures

Some shows were filmed, but due to technical failures, the episodes were never released. This is a list of them, along with the technical errors that occurred. *

Helen Lederer Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954) is an English comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series ''Naked Video'' ...

– Out of focus picture and inaudible sound. *

John Hegley John Richard Hegley (born 1 October 1953) is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter. Early life He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. He was brought up i ...

– A "total sound fail". *

Nick Carpenter Nicholas Andre Carpenter Gray, Tara "40th Anniversary of the Mercury 7". NASA.gov. Accessed January 9, 2010. is an American film director. He worked as a set production assistant on TV and on films such as ''Thank You for Smoking (film), Thank You ...

– Camera batteries were flat. (Filmed on the Silverstone GP Track) *

– Microphone failed halfway through, the first half was shown in her other episode

Commissioning

London Film and Comic Con London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

in July 2009, Danny John-Jules mentioned that RDF Productions (the production company behind ''

'') had commissioned Carpool for broadcast and that Llewellyn is re-shooting a number of episodes in

high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines (No ...

for broadcast. On 30 June 2010, it was announced that new shows will appear on the

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

channel,

, as well as still appearing online after broadcast and that the format of the show will remain unchanged.

References

External links