Airdate: Driving Test

New observational series Driving Test begins on Nine next week.

Earlier this year Nine Program Director Hamish Turner told TV Tonight, “Driving Test is shot in Darwin where your instructor is also your tester. So you get that continuation throughout the narrative.

“There are people who have lost their licence, some going for it for the first time, so it is cross-generational.

The half-hour show will be followed by RBT.

For most young drivers, getting their licence is one of the biggest days of their lives – it means freedom, independence and the beginning of life’s next chapter. For most people, attempting this test can fill them with fear and anxiety.

Premiering in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at 7.30pm on Thursday, July 26, on Nine and 9Now, is Nine’s new fly on the wall series Driving Test, where cameras follow every single move 60 learner drivers make, as they attempt to take their P’s.

Darwin provides the scenic backdrop and a rich variety of characters, including the strong, charming and witty driving instructors from Andrews Driving School and the Palmerston Driving School.

Andrew Szauer is the muscle behind Andrews Driving School. He looks tough on the outside, but on the inside he’s patient, considerate and sympathetic towards his students as he navigates their tantrums, mishaps and mistakes with his wry sense of humour.

Mark Smith is Andrew’s business partner, a fly-in-fly-out driving instructor. Every two weeks Mark lands in Darwin from his hometown base in Melbourne, and when he arrives he means business. Mark takes his responsibility for getting safe drivers onto our roads very seriously, but he also has a mind full of groanworthy dad jokes to ensure his students have fun.

Glen Holmes is the man behind the family-run Palmerston Driving School. He is joined by wife Melissa, a tough Australian motocross champion, and Scott, Melissa’s annoying and mischievous younger brother, the driving school’s action man, who is about as cool as they come. Then there’s Errol, Glen’s older brother, who completes the Palmerston Driving School team. Originally a cabinetmaker and welder by trade, he spent 20 years running a variety of prison workshops before joining the family business.

Driving Test takes viewers on a unique ride with 60 Northern Territory hopefuls eager to reach their ultimate goal of independence and freedom by passing that all-important driving test.

7:30pm Thursday July 26 on Nine (Melb / Ade / Per)

Photo: stock image.

Updated.