Learning to drive is a rite of passage for many people, with everyone requiring driving lessons to learn how to be a safe, dependable road user.

The driving test has changed considerably since the first voluntary tests were taken in 1935 to adapt to the modern realities of the driving experience, as well as adding elements such as the Theory Test in 1996 and the additions of elements such as hazard perception and independent driving.

Because it is a largely universal experience, it became the subject of one of Britain’s first reality television shows and inadvertently created its first reality television star.

BBC’s Driving School was originally conceived by filmmaker Francesca Joseph as a fly-on-the-wall documentary similar to shows such as The Family or Airport with a very small budget about the various types of people who take their driving test.

However, once they had chosen the learner drivers who were set to take part, they quickly realised that they had a cast of unique and memorable characters, which very quickly changed the show from an exploration of people learning to drive to a six-part sitcom about some truly unique characters.

Whilst the story of teenage driver Danny’s plan to pass his test so he could visit his girlfriend was compelling, as was the story of capable but nervous driver Joan, the star of the show was Maureen Rees, who had spent 80 per cent of her income on lessons and took seven attempts to pass.

Maureen’s story of wanting to pass her test to start her own cleaning business, her relationship with her bus driver husband David and the rather infamous events that happened during her lessons with him made her an ideal sitcom protagonist.

In the first episode alone she drives into the path of a car in the overtaking lane of a duel carriageway, nearly crashing her powder-blue Lada in the process, and would later run over her husband’s foot by mistake.

She did pass her test in an automatic car in the final episode, and after the show became an overnight star, releasing a music single and making appearances in a few films and television shows.

She would also later pass her driving test again in a manual transmission car.