Operation Transportation: Highway to Kells
Mon 30th Nov, 9pm, RTE 2.
For those of you who don’t already know me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Keith Abbey. I’m 31 years old & I’ve been been Owner/Operator of Motorvate Driving School, Ashbourne, Co. Meath since Sep ’08. That’s me on the left, with my new buddy, Fred Cooke.
As an Approved Driving Instructor every year day has it’s unique challenges. Although the ultimate goal is the same. To make safe, competent drivers. Everyone’s journey is slightly different & trust me, Fred’s was just that!
Let me take you back to the beginning.
Back in July of this year I was approached by a TV producer who had been commissioned by RTE to make a 52 minute documentary, as part of it’s “Reality Bites” series.
The show was going to be about Fred Cooke, an already well established Irish Comedian learning to drive at 34 years of age. He has since turned 35, but we won’t hold that against him. . . .
I was already familiar with Fred from his sketches on “The Rep. of Telly” & RTE’s hidden camera show “The Fear”.
I agreed to meet with the film crew, producer, director & Fred himself. At this stage I had no idea if they’d even like me, or how many potential ADI’s they would be meeting. I put my best foot forward & was just myself & it worked. They asked me to be a part of the show.
I won’t lie, I was excited, nervous, but most of all really looking forward to a new challenge. You see, it turns out that Fred had no prior driving experience, a pretty hectic work schedule, no car to practice in & only 8 weeks to get from complete beginner to driving test standard. The pressure was on!
We got stuck in straight away & it was challenging at times for Fred. This is a man who is expected to be funny on camera, but he understood that learning to drive is not a joke & it can’t be taking lightly. So he found it hard to strike a balance.
We got Fred ready his test (As best we could in such short notice) & he sat it in Ennis on 26th Sep.
Now, I cant tell you the outcome (Obviously), but if you’re interested its on this coming Mon, 30th Nov, 9pm RTE 2.
Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed making it.
Good luck Fred.
The whole of Ireland is routing for ya!
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