The classic BBC documentary Driving School that made Maureen Rees from Cardiff a household name can still be enjoyed
Maureen Rees starred in the BBC show Driving School(Image: Nick Treharne)
Long before the phrase ‘reality TV’ was popularised by early 2000s shows like Big Brother, Popstars and Survivor, there was a television docusoap that captivated the nation – BBC’s Driving School.
Driving School paved the way for the fascination with programmes documenting real-life situations, even turning one of its participants into a star.
Debuting on the BBC in 1997, Driving School was a fly-on-the-wall documentary following a group of learner drivers around Bristol and South Wales. Despite being produced on a shoestring budget, it was aired during primetime and gave rise to one of the first reality TV celebrities, Welsh icon Maureen Rees.
The series was conceived and directed by British film and documentary maker Francesca Joseph, with narration provided by Quentin Willson, who would later host the similar programme, Britain’s Worst Driver.
A quarter of a century after its premiere, all six episodes were made accessible on BBC iPlayer and viewers can still enjoy the episodes, reports the Mirror.
Maureen from Cardiff was a fan favourite(Image: Carlton Television)
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On IMDb, reviewers have lauded Driving School as “hilarious” and a “milestone” in television. One reviewer noted: “It’s largely forgotten now but this series marked a change in TV documentaries.
“It was conceived as a simple documentary about the trials and tribulations of teaching people to drive but as the footage came in it became apparent that the stars of the show were the learners not the instructors. Maureen Reese (sic) rapidly became the pupil that everyone tuned in to see. Each week we wanted to see what danger she would encounter.”
They continued: “A small milestone in the story of TV.”
Another commented: “Doesn’t anybody remember this documentary? It was hilarious! In fact, most of it doesn’t even stick in my mind but I remember Maureen Rees as the mad welsh woman always arguing with her husband and nearly decapitating everyone else on the road. Plus, she failed her driving test about 8 times! It really was a good watch.”
The popularity of Driving School resulted in a four-part celebrity edition which was broadcast in 2003 to support Comic Relief. Presented by Mel Giedroyc, famous faces taking part included Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates, television legend Paul O’Grady, EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy and Big Brother star Jade Goody. They discovered live during the Red Nose Day appeal whether they had been successful. None of them had.
Jade Goody appeared in Celebrity Driving School(Image: Channel 4)
Meanwhile, Maureen from Cardiff, now 84, went on to enjoy a television career and even released a pop single. She presented the short-lived Really Useful Show, in which she learned car maintenance and appeared as herself in the sitcom Barbara, as well as travelling to the US to be interviewed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2001, she appeared as a chapel woman in the coming-of-age film Very Annie Mary, which was set in Wales.
In 2004, she participated in the Channel 5 series Back to Reality, a programme featuring former reality TV stars. She made it to the final day, finishing as runner-up to Princess Diana’s former lover James Hewitt.
Maureen released a single, a cover of Madness’ Driving in My Car, which reached number 49 in the UK Singles Chart, with the video featuring her driving Betsy, her powder-blue 1990 Lada Riva estate.
Driving School is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.walesonline.co.uk ’
