Driving School
10 June 1997

Driving School started on 10 June 1997. The participants' willingness to be filmed - via a fly-on-the-dashboard camera - as they experienced the failures and triumphs of learning to drive, made for compelling and entertaining television. The documentary ran for six weeks, but was edited more like a soap opera. Maureen Rees was the undoubted star of the series. Her determination to pass the test despite 6 previous fails had viewers hooked, and helped to confirm the popularity of the docusoap genre.
Besides Maureen, Driving School followed Joan Rodwell, who had to sit in the back seat as her husband took her out for test drives, and 17 year old Danny Waring, who wanted to pass his test so he could visit his girlfriend. All the participants eventually passed. The programme also followed the instructors Paul Farrell and Pam Carr, and Thames Valley Police as they learned advanced driving techniques.
Maureen's phenomenal popularity after Driving School was the subject of a follow-up documentary, which charted the impact of the series on her life. The success of Driving School led to a boom in docusoaps and reality programmes. Ordinary people now became celebrities, such as Jeremy Spake in Airport and Trude Mostue in Vets in Practice.
June anniversaries
- Juke Box Jury1 June 1959
- The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II2 June 1953
- Mock the Week5 June 2005
- Real Lives 5 June 1984
- D-Day broadcasts6 June 1944
- Till Death Us Do Part 6 June 1966
- First broadcast of Crimewatch UK 7 June 1984
- Steptoe and Son 7 June 1962
- Driving School 10 June 1997
- The Basil Brush Show 14 June 1968
- Blackadder 15 June 1983
- Yesterday's Men 17 June 1971
- De Gaulle's first broadcast to France 18 June 1940
- Parkinson first broadcast 19 June 1971
- First female newsreader in vision 20 June 1960
- Last programme from Lime Grove Studios 20 June 1991
- Wimbledon first televised 21 June 1937
- Royal Family first transmitted 21 June 1969
- Music While You Work 23 June 1940
- Our World 25 June 1967
- Opening of Television Centre 29 June 1960