Peter Kay reveals brand new Car Share sketch in tribute to NHS

The sketch, published in book Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, reveals how John, played by Kay in the BBC series, suffered a brain cancer scare.

Kay's short story begins with John telling his friend and teased love interest Kayleigh, played by Sian Gibson in the series, about the organisation of his dad's end-of-life care, before mentioning how he previously went for a brain scan.

"I kept getting these really bad headaches," he says. "My GP said it was sinuses, but being a proper hypochondriac, I thought: 'b*****ks, what does he know?' So I booked in for a brain scan."

John then reveals that his MRI was a nerve-wracking experience, after he chose Best of Simon & Garfunkel to be played during the test.

"I love them and they would have been the perfect choice if the first song hadn't been The Sound of Silence, with the opening line, 'Hello darkness my old friend,'" he said.

"It got worse – in the third verse, the lyrics are, 'Silence like a cancer grows'. I was in tears. I was ashen when I came out. I told the nurse. I said I thought it was going to be happy, Mrs Robinson and all that."

The sketch ends on a positive note however, after John tells Kayleigh that the cause of the headaches was his sinuses after all.

The book, which was curated and edited by This is Going to Hurt author Kay, features a variety of personal stories about the NHS from the likes of Emma Thompson, David Tennant, Stephen Fry, Ed Sheeran, Emilia Clarke, Peter Capaldi, Stanley Tucci and Emma Watson.

For each book sold, a minimum of £3.09 will be paid to NHS Charities Together, with £0.16 going to The Lullaby Trust, a charity raising awareness of sudden infant death syndrome.

Car Share aired for two series from 2016 until 2017, with two finale specials airing in 2018. Earlier this year, Kay released an audio-only special on BBC iPlayer.

Kay last appeared on our screens in April, during a brief video cameo for Comic Relief and Children in Need's Big Night In – his first public appearance since 2018.

You can buy Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You from Amazon for £9. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV Guide.