HarperCollins to publish Peter Kay’s 'incredible' ode to TV

HarperCollins has acquired the right to T.V.: Big Adventures on the Small Screen by comedian Peter Kay, poised to be supported by a "huge" marketing and publicity campaign. 

Managing director Kate Elton and publishing director Joel Simons negotiated the deal for HarperNonFiction with Charlotte Robertson at Robertson Murray. T.V. will be published in September 2023. 

After a 12-year hiatus, the Bolton-born star announced his return to the stage with his “Better Late Than Never” tour last year. The new book celebrates this return with a “nostalgic love letter” to TV. HarperCollins described it as an “incredible jaunt” through Kay’s 40-year career on the small screen, from tea-making in Granada to behind-the-scenes moments on "Phoenix Nights", "Max and Paddy" and "Car Share".

His first book, The Sound of Laughter, remains the biggest selling British hardback autobiography of all time, selling well over a million copies across all print editions since publication in 2007. The accompanying tour also holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling live comedy tour, playing to a total of 1.2 million people.

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 and behind the camera, and I hope people will enjoy reading about the journey as much as I’ve  enjoyed writing it.”

Elton added: “All of us at HarperNonFiction are absolutely over the moon to be publishing Peter. He’s quite simply one of the most beloved entertainers in Britain, and T.V. is a hilariously funny, wonderfully warm journey through the popular culture of the past 40 years. Chock-full 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.”