A television production company that recently filmed scenes at Helensburgh Central train station is hoping to commission a pilot for a new game show after experiencing the ridiculous state of parking around the town.
“The idea for it came together pretty quickly after just a day or so on location here.” The producer told us in an exclusive interview.
“In between filming scenes, I’d go for a walk and, good grief, the state of some the parking I saw was astounding!”
“The size of the car or the tightness of the space didn’t seem to be a factor at all from what I saw. Either wheels were on pavements or cars were at such a bad angle they’d have been as well just abandoning it on the road.”
“It’s rare that an idea for a new show just blossoms like this but, really, it was a gift. Hardly anybody can park in this town – either because they don’t know how to or they can’t be bothered to park properly.”
“And that’s how it came to me; Can’t Park, Won’t Park.” She nodded in recollection. “You’ll maybe remember the cooking show that was on daytime TV where folk who either can’t or won’t cook compete against each other in challenges? Well, it’ll be a similar kind of thing.”
“For the pilot we’ll take a squad of drivers from Helensburgh and put them through different challenges. Simple ones at first – like pulling into a space without mounting the kerb. Then we’ll ramp up the difficulty with things like parallel parking, lining their cars up within the boundary of a parking bay, or reversing into a space without leaving the adjacent car inaccessible or, worse, dented. All the stuff they somehow forgot the moment they passed their driving test.”
Should the pilot be green lit, the production company expects to begin recording in the spring of 2026.
“We’ll see how it goes from the pilot and whether there’s the potential to go into full production of, say, half a dozen episodes. I think the main problem could be in finding Helensburgh drivers actually being able to complete any of the challenges.”
We agree that the last point could be cause for concern. What we’re not sure about is whether John Logie Baird would be especially proud of Helensburgh’s capacity for launching such a TV show.
