Carpool

Jerry Seinfeld apologises to Robert Llewellyn

Jerry Seinfeld has issued an apology to Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn over Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.

How the car-cam became comedy's favourite vehicle

From James Corden and Peter Kay to Jerry Seinfeld, comedians are using the cheap and simple device to make lucrative TV.

Carpool review

Carpool existed long before Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and James Corden's Carpool Karaoke segment.

Seinfeld's 'Comedians in Cars' vs Llewellyn's 'Carpool'

A look at which of two comedy car shows is better: the American Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld, or the British Carpool with Robert Llewellyn.

Carpool is a distinctly low-frills, ingeniously penny-pinching chat show, with its cut-price opening credits and host Robert Llewellyn picking up guests in his car and interviewing as he drives them around. This week, it's the turn of Tim Vine, king of the twitter gag, whose puns Llewellyn finds amusing to an alarming degree, and comedian Doon Mackichan, whose latest show draws for its entertainment on the subject matter of recent family events including her father's death, her divorce, and the grave illness of her young son.

One of digital channel Dave's few original commissions, Carpool is a novelty chat-show devised and hosted by Robert Llewellyn, in which he ferries celebrity guests inside a car fixed with cameras.

This simple premise allows Llewellyn and his passengers to trade banter which, while rarely hilarious, provides a pleasant way to spend half an hour

His first guest was likable Irish comedian Jason Byrne, followed by a natter with Jo Brand - clearly one of showbiz's nicest stars - in which she revealed that her superb NHS comedy Getting On was filmed in an abandoned hospital in the dead of winter with no heating facilities.

A slight but genial slice of compact-concept television.

For its makers, Carpool certainly has budgetary virtues. Instead of going to the expense of hiring a studio and building a set, they simply send out Robert Llewellyn in his Toyota Prius to pick up celebrities, whom he is then filmed interviewing in his car. Cheap as chips. This week, it's the turn of Jason Byrne, en route from the airport, who waxes vaguely amusing about conspiracy theories. Jo Brand is the next passenger, getting to retell the story of how she once flunked an audition to play herself.

Whoever thought that watching one person give a lift to another person would be so entertaining? This week Robert Llewellyn gives a ride to Jeremy Hardy and Rob Brydon, and the continuing theme through both interviews is taking the mickey out of Tony Blair.

Robert Llewellyn's online show comes to TV. The premise is simplicity itself: Llewellyn drives a guest around in his car and has a nice chat. He picks up comedians Rufus Hound and Jason Manford (who uses this as a money-saving way to get dropped off at his job at The One Show). There's no dangerous driving, and the only tension comes when they wait for a traffic light to change. It's pleasant with no attempt to "sex it up". The opposite, thankfully, of car crash television.

"A chat show in my motor," is how Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf) describes his series. A hit on the web, the show now makes its TV debut on Dave. Llewellyn is a pleasant enough chap, sitting behind the wheel of his Toyota Prius, making small talk with his passenger, but is there mileage in their chummy chats? No. The fact that his first guests are The One Show's Jason Manford and comic Rufus Hound says it all.