Kay's first TV project was in a 1997 episode of
New Voices, a comedy series which showcased rising talent. His episode, "Two Minutes", written by Johanne McAndrew, saw him play a getaway driver as two of his friends attempted to rob a pub of its takings. In 1997, he played a delivery driver in the
BBC drama
Born to Run. Also in 1997, he made an appearance on
Coronation Street as a delivery driver for Fred Elliott's corner shop. In 1998, Kay appeared in a series of sketches for Granada TV's "Last Laugh Show" and "Roy Mills Films of Fun", where he made his TV debut as a character comedy actor and also did a stand-up set. Neil Fitzmaurice also appeared in the series alongside many other local comedians who Kay later recruited for his
Channel 4 series. After presenting a slot entitled "Peter Kay's World of Entertainment" on
BBC Two's
The Sunday Show, Kay made an episode of
Channel 4's
Comedy Lab, "The Services", in 1998, which won a
Royal Television Society award for best newcomer. This served as a pilot for
That Peter Kay Thing. Following the series' success, Kay and his co-writers –
Neil Fitzmaurice and
Dave Spikey – used the episode "In the Club" as the basis for
Phoenix Nights, which was an immediate hit. Set in a newly refurbished social club run by Brian Potter, the first series was filmed in part at St. Gregory's Social Club in
Farnworth,
Greater Manchester, where the exterior, hallways and function suite were used. He appeared in the first episode of the 2002 series of
Linda Green, playing a pizza delivery man who ended up being something of a soulmate to the eponymous heroine. He has had two further roles in
Coronation Street. The first, in the late 1990s, was a brief appearance as a shopfitter, but in January 2004 he co-wrote his scenes, appearing alongside
Sally Lindsay, who played
Shelley Unwin. In 2004, Kay followed the success with ''
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, a spin-off of Phoenix Nights
. The show featured the bouncer characters from the show, played by Kay and Paddy McGuinness, and also featured other characters from Phoenix Nights''. Six episodes were made and broadcast from November to December 2004 by
Channel 4. In 2005, Kay was awarded a
Rose d'Or at the international television festival in
Montreux for Best Performance by an Actor. In 2004, Kay began appearing in a series of television adverts for UK brewery
John Smith's bitter; these imitated the style of
Phoenix Nights and saw Kay develop his catchphrases "'ave it!" and "two lamb bhunas". On 17 April 2006,
Channel 4 broadcast a "Peter Kay Night", showing out-takes from
Phoenix Nights (previously featured on DVD); a behind-the-scenes documentary, "180 – A Tour Documentary", which followed Kay behind the scenes of his
Mum Wants a Bungalow tour; and screened the whole Peter Kay Live in Manchester Arena show. On 17 June 2006, Kay appeared in the
Doctor Who episode "
Love & Monsters". His character, the sinister Victor Kennedy, proved to be an alien called the Abzorbaloff in disguise. In 2008, he returned to television after an absence of four years with the BAFTA-winning satire of reality talent shows, ''
Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice'', which he co-wrote with Paul Coleman. The two-hour special was screened on
Channel 4 on 17 October 2008. Kay won his second Royal Television Society award for best actor for playing Geraldine McQueen, a transgender dinner lady from Ireland. In May 2015 the sitcom ''
Peter Kay's Car Share was aired. The series was a success and a second series was commissioned to start in April 2017. In October 2015, he starred in Cradle to Grave'', another
BBC sitcom based on
Danny Baker's life as a teenager. ==Film career==