Diary of an Uber Driver explained

Genre:	Comedy drama
Director:	Matthew Moore
Starring:	Sam Cotton Zahra Newman John Bell Caroline Brazier Ed Oxenbould Julian Maroun Emily Barclay Harry Cook
Country:	Australia
Language:	English
Num Series:	1
Num Episodes:	6
Executive Producer:	Michael Ritchie Steve Rogers Greg Sitch Nina Stevenson Will Vicars
Producer:	Lauren Edwards Martha Coleman
Runtime:	30 minutes
Company:	RevLover Films
Network:	ABC TV

Diary of an Uber Driver is an Australian television comedy-drama series screened on ABC TV from 14 August 2019,^[1] based on a blog^[2] and e-book^[3] by Ben Phillips. The TV series was written by Thomas Ward and directed by Matthew Moore.

Plot

Diary of an Uber Driver follows Uber driver Ben as he transports a number of disparate characters to their destinations. The passengers display a range of behaviours, with each trip telling a part of their stories and evoking a range of reactions by Ben. Ben's background story unfolds as the series progresses, as he tries to prepare for impending unplanned fatherhood with the mother of his child, whom he hardly knows.^[4]

Cast

• Sam Cotton as Ben
• Zahra Newman as Beck
• John Bell as Ken
• Caroline Brazier as Jodie
• Ed Oxenbould as Clint
• Julian Maroun as Mo
• Emily Barclay as Georgie
• Harry Cook as Mike Fisher
• Rajan Velu as Saad

Background and production

Ben Phillips' blog and e-book Diary of an Uber Driver was optioned for development as a TV series by RevLover Films' Martha Coleman. Thomas Ward, co-writer of and actor in Please Like Me, wrote the TV series after reading the blog, creating a different backstory for Ben but borrowing ideas from some of the stories of the passengers. Sam Cotton was recruited to play the lead character and Zahra Newman the mother of his unborn child.^[5]

The series was supported by Screen Australia, Create NSW and All3Media.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Airdate: Diary of an Uber Driver. tvtonight.com.au. David. Knox. 15 July 2019. 11 August 2019.
2. Web site: Home. Diary of an Uber Driver. Ben. Phillips . 3 October 2019.
3. Book: Phillips, Ben. Diary of an Uber Driver. Harper Collins: Impulse Australia. 25 January 2016. 9781460707159.
4. Web site: Wheels in motion on ABC drama series Diary of an Uber Driver (Media release) . 5 November 2018 . 28 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190228192957/https://tv.press.abc.net.au/wheels-in-motion-on-abc-drama-series-diary-of-an-uber-driver . dead .
5. Web site: Thomas Ward enjoys the ride on the ABC's 'Diary of an Uber Driver'. if.com.au. 18 July 2019 . Don . Groves. 4 October 2019.