Peter Kay announces new memoir detailing his ‘obsession for TV’

Comedian Peter Kay said it had been a “massive pleasure” to reminisce on his journey from obsessing about TV to working in it for his latest book titled TV: Big Adventures On The Small Screen.

The memoir marks 49-year-old Kay’s long-awaited return to the page following the record-breaking release of his autobiography The Sound Of Laughter in 2006, Saturday Night Peter in 2009 and The Book That’s More Than Just A Book in 2011.

The book is described as a nostalgic love letter to a childhood spent idolising “the wooden box in the corner of the front room” that went on to inspire a lifetime’s work, publisher Harper Collins UK said.

The publisher said it would include his time making tea at Granada, to behind the scenes on Phoenix Nights, Max And Paddy and his Bafta-winning turn as John Redmond in Car Share.

Kay said: “I’d wanted for years to write about my obsession for TV and working in it.

“It’s been such a massive pleasure recalling the adventures I’ve had over the last 25 years both in front (of) and behind the camera, and I hope people will enjoy reading about the journey as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.”

The book will be published in September 2023 supported by a “huge marketing and publicity campaign”, Harper Collins UK confirmed.

The publisher’s managing director, Kate Elton, said: “All of us at Harper Non Fiction are absolutely over the moon to be publishing Peter.

“He’s quite simply one of the most beloved entertainers in Britain, and TV is a hilariously funny, wonderfully warm journey through the popular culture of the last 40 years.

“Chockfull of TV gossip, brilliant one-liners and, of course, irresistible observational comedy, it’s exactly the book every Peter Kay fan has been waiting for.”

The book comes after Bolton-born Kay returned to the spotlight performing his first live comedy show in 12 years in December as part of an arena tour spanning to late 2024.

It is his first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling run of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.

Kay cancelled his last tour in December 2017, citing “unforeseen family circumstances”.