Talking of Great British comedians ...
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Peter Kay is excited. He has watched the first four episodes of Roary the Racing Car, his sunny new preschool animation series, with a group of small children and is very hopeful that the show will have genuine staying power. “I love the idea that it may have longevity. When those children were so clearly loving the show, I started getting all emotional, thinking that their children could be watching it in thirty years’ time.”
Roary the Racing Car drove up at exactly the right time for Kay. “I’d always wanted to do a children’s series. I love the idea that if something is a success, your voice is preserved for decades.
“Think of Arthur Lowe doing Mr Men or Michael Hordren doing Paddington Bear or Bernard Cribbins doing The Wombles or Neil Morrissey doing Bob the Builder or Ringo Starr doing Thomas the Tank Engine. Those performances are all classics and have already lasted for several decades.
“Children don’t mind when something was made – they don’t discriminate in that way. I tape very early episodes of Rainbow and Trumpton for my son and watch them with him. He loves them. Trumpton was made in 1967, but he still watches it like it’s brand new. Children love the innocence of those fables, and it’s great to see the excitement and wonder in a child’s eyes as he listens to Brian Cant’s voice. I was exactly the same when I was his age in 1977. If something really works, it can last forever.”
To talk to, Peter Kay is engaging, effervescent and entertaining. It’s qualities such as these that have helped make him the most popular comedian at work in Britain today. His last live tour, Mum Wants a Bungalow, was seen by more than half a million people. His book, The Sound of Laughter, has shifted a million copies, making it the biggest-selling British autobiography ever. He’s also had two No1 singles for Comic Relief: (Is This the Way to) Amarillo and (I am Gonna Be) 500 Miles.
The 33-year-old, who is currently starring in The Producers at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, voices the character of Big Chris in the series, while racing legend Sir Stirling Moss narrates. Kay says he has been bowled over by the standard of the series, which is produced by Chapman Entertainment, the producers of Fifi and the Flowertots, and animated by Cosgrove Hall Films, responsible for Danger Mouse and Chorlton and the Wheelies.
Roary the Racing Car, which will be launched on Five on Monday and Nick Jr in June, was originated almost a decade ago by David Jenkins, who spent four years working in senior management at Brand Hatch and Goodwood Race Circuits. He had the idea of making the series whilst watching the Grand Prix on TV with his son, Tom, who at the time was 18 months old.
Set among the big personalities and highly-tuned egos at the Silver Hatch race track, the programme centres on Roary, a novice, bright-red, single-seater racing car whose enthusiasm and curiosity often lead him into trouble. Underneath his bonnet, however, beats a heart of chrome.
Kay almost whistles in admiration at the care with which Roary the Racing Car has been assembled. “Watching the series, I’ve been blown away. They’ve combined CGI with stop-animation and it’s so well done, you can’t see the join. The attention to detail is extraordinary. For the last four years, people have been working on this round the clock, producing just a few seconds of footage a day. The animators work through the night in a converted mill, playing Canadian thrash metal. They’re really intense as they move these figures around.
“But all that effort is absolutely worth it. Chapman Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall have a great track record in animation. Their costume department is amazing. You can see the tiny ironing-board Postman Pat uses to iron his shirt. It’s like The Borrowers!”
Kay plays the chief mechanic and father figure to all the cars. “It’s basically me,” he chuckles. “I’ve done a lot of ad libbing because that makes the character more three-dimensional. Ad libbing is sometimes seen as forbidden fruit in animation, but the producers are delighted because it brings a freshness to the series and gives them more to play with.”
The comedian, who has written and starred in such acclaimed, multi-award-winning C4 sitcoms as Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere and That Peter Kay Thing, says he is motivated by an almost childlike desire to bring pleasure. “If you can be involved with something like Roary the Racing Car, it’s just bliss,” he enthuses. “It may sound like a cliché, but you’re bringing happiness to people when you do a project like that. That innocence of Trumpton from 1967 – maybe that’s something I’ve taken from my own childhood into my work.”
That urge to spread fun has characterised Kay’s entire career. His humour has always traded in warmth rather than cynicism. “No one gets slagged off in my comedy,” reflects the comic, who was born and bred in Bolton. “It’s not the comedy of hate. I hope it’s a breath of fresh air for audiences.”
Kay thinks that his gentler comic style has come back into fashion. “Comedy has swung away from those panel games where the comedians are vicious about everybody,” he says.
“Audiences want comedy that has no venom. They want to have a laugh without it becoming twee. There are not many things that people can watch these days with both their children and their grandchildren, but maybe that’s what I offer. I’m not the sort of comedian who wants to make audiences think about politics. I’m not clever in that way. But maybe I’m clever in a different way because I can bring up things that make people think, ‘oh, we do that, too’. The best comedy – like The Royle Family – holds a mirror up to its audience.”
Unlike many of today’s comics, Kay keeps his comedy clean. “When I do stand-up, I never swear because if I did, my mum would batter me! That’s how I ended up with this style. Comics like Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks were estranged from their families and could talk about anything they liked., but I’ve got to think about my nan, my mum and my sister. My act is about my life, and my life is my family. I have to treat them with respect.”
Kay is not immediately planning to hit the road again. However, he says that he has not stopped collecting material. “I’ve continued writing down funny things that I hear from day to day – I must never lose them!
“You need to live life in order to build up a new act. All the best material comes from real life. Last week, for instance, I was trying to persuade my nan to get Sky Plus. I was telling her that if you want to go and make a cup of tea, you can pause the telly. She looked baffled: ‘But what about everyone else?’ ‘You’re not controlling TV throughout Britain,’ I explained. ‘You’re not going to prevent someone in Devon from watching the end of Midsomer Murders just because you’ve paused your Sky Plus!’”
Now Kay is considering an offer from his publisher to write another book. For the time being, he still seems overwhelmed by the success of his first one. “When you’re told something like you’ve written the best-selling autobiography ever in this country, how can you possibly, possibly comprehend it? The British way is not to gloat. You don’t whoop or jump off lamp posts. You just say, ‘Oh, OK. Right then, what shall we have for lunch?’”
'Roary the Racing Car' launches on Five’s Milkshake! on Monday 7 May at 7.15am, airing every weekday, and on Nick Jr from Saturday 2 June at 4.00pm, airing every weekend. Nick Jr Video will premiere the series online from Monday 21 May, when episodes will be available on www.nickjr.co.uk
Peter Kay puts fun in Formula One Tv And Radio Arts Telegraph
Roary the Racing Car drove up at exactly the right time for Kay. “I’d always wanted to do a children’s series. I love the idea that if something is a success, your voice is preserved for decades.
“Think of Arthur Lowe doing Mr Men or Michael Hordren doing Paddington Bear or Bernard Cribbins doing The Wombles or Neil Morrissey doing Bob the Builder or Ringo Starr doing Thomas the Tank Engine. Those performances are all classics and have already lasted for several decades.
“Children don’t mind when something was made – they don’t discriminate in that way. I tape very early episodes of Rainbow and Trumpton for my son and watch them with him. He loves them. Trumpton was made in 1967, but he still watches it like it’s brand new. Children love the innocence of those fables, and it’s great to see the excitement and wonder in a child’s eyes as he listens to Brian Cant’s voice. I was exactly the same when I was his age in 1977. If something really works, it can last forever.”
To talk to, Peter Kay is engaging, effervescent and entertaining. It’s qualities such as these that have helped make him the most popular comedian at work in Britain today. His last live tour, Mum Wants a Bungalow, was seen by more than half a million people. His book, The Sound of Laughter, has shifted a million copies, making it the biggest-selling British autobiography ever. He’s also had two No1 singles for Comic Relief: (Is This the Way to) Amarillo and (I am Gonna Be) 500 Miles.
The 33-year-old, who is currently starring in The Producers at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, voices the character of Big Chris in the series, while racing legend Sir Stirling Moss narrates. Kay says he has been bowled over by the standard of the series, which is produced by Chapman Entertainment, the producers of Fifi and the Flowertots, and animated by Cosgrove Hall Films, responsible for Danger Mouse and Chorlton and the Wheelies.
Roary the Racing Car, which will be launched on Five on Monday and Nick Jr in June, was originated almost a decade ago by David Jenkins, who spent four years working in senior management at Brand Hatch and Goodwood Race Circuits. He had the idea of making the series whilst watching the Grand Prix on TV with his son, Tom, who at the time was 18 months old.
Set among the big personalities and highly-tuned egos at the Silver Hatch race track, the programme centres on Roary, a novice, bright-red, single-seater racing car whose enthusiasm and curiosity often lead him into trouble. Underneath his bonnet, however, beats a heart of chrome.
Kay almost whistles in admiration at the care with which Roary the Racing Car has been assembled. “Watching the series, I’ve been blown away. They’ve combined CGI with stop-animation and it’s so well done, you can’t see the join. The attention to detail is extraordinary. For the last four years, people have been working on this round the clock, producing just a few seconds of footage a day. The animators work through the night in a converted mill, playing Canadian thrash metal. They’re really intense as they move these figures around.
“But all that effort is absolutely worth it. Chapman Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall have a great track record in animation. Their costume department is amazing. You can see the tiny ironing-board Postman Pat uses to iron his shirt. It’s like The Borrowers!”
Kay plays the chief mechanic and father figure to all the cars. “It’s basically me,” he chuckles. “I’ve done a lot of ad libbing because that makes the character more three-dimensional. Ad libbing is sometimes seen as forbidden fruit in animation, but the producers are delighted because it brings a freshness to the series and gives them more to play with.”
The comedian, who has written and starred in such acclaimed, multi-award-winning C4 sitcoms as Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere and That Peter Kay Thing, says he is motivated by an almost childlike desire to bring pleasure. “If you can be involved with something like Roary the Racing Car, it’s just bliss,” he enthuses. “It may sound like a cliché, but you’re bringing happiness to people when you do a project like that. That innocence of Trumpton from 1967 – maybe that’s something I’ve taken from my own childhood into my work.”
That urge to spread fun has characterised Kay’s entire career. His humour has always traded in warmth rather than cynicism. “No one gets slagged off in my comedy,” reflects the comic, who was born and bred in Bolton. “It’s not the comedy of hate. I hope it’s a breath of fresh air for audiences.”
Kay thinks that his gentler comic style has come back into fashion. “Comedy has swung away from those panel games where the comedians are vicious about everybody,” he says.
“Audiences want comedy that has no venom. They want to have a laugh without it becoming twee. There are not many things that people can watch these days with both their children and their grandchildren, but maybe that’s what I offer. I’m not the sort of comedian who wants to make audiences think about politics. I’m not clever in that way. But maybe I’m clever in a different way because I can bring up things that make people think, ‘oh, we do that, too’. The best comedy – like The Royle Family – holds a mirror up to its audience.”
Unlike many of today’s comics, Kay keeps his comedy clean. “When I do stand-up, I never swear because if I did, my mum would batter me! That’s how I ended up with this style. Comics like Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks were estranged from their families and could talk about anything they liked., but I’ve got to think about my nan, my mum and my sister. My act is about my life, and my life is my family. I have to treat them with respect.”
Kay is not immediately planning to hit the road again. However, he says that he has not stopped collecting material. “I’ve continued writing down funny things that I hear from day to day – I must never lose them!
“You need to live life in order to build up a new act. All the best material comes from real life. Last week, for instance, I was trying to persuade my nan to get Sky Plus. I was telling her that if you want to go and make a cup of tea, you can pause the telly. She looked baffled: ‘But what about everyone else?’ ‘You’re not controlling TV throughout Britain,’ I explained. ‘You’re not going to prevent someone in Devon from watching the end of Midsomer Murders just because you’ve paused your Sky Plus!’”
Now Kay is considering an offer from his publisher to write another book. For the time being, he still seems overwhelmed by the success of his first one. “When you’re told something like you’ve written the best-selling autobiography ever in this country, how can you possibly, possibly comprehend it? The British way is not to gloat. You don’t whoop or jump off lamp posts. You just say, ‘Oh, OK. Right then, what shall we have for lunch?’”
'Roary the Racing Car' launches on Five’s Milkshake! on Monday 7 May at 7.15am, airing every weekday, and on Nick Jr from Saturday 2 June at 4.00pm, airing every weekend. Nick Jr Video will premiere the series online from Monday 21 May, when episodes will be available on www.nickjr.co.uk
Peter Kay puts fun in Formula One Tv And Radio Arts Telegraph
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