On The Buses.html |
| | | ca | | | de | | | en | | | es | | | fr | | | it | | | nl | | | no | | | pl | | | pt | | | ru | | | ro | | | fi | | | sv | | | tr | | | vo | | |
| |  |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
| On the Buses | |
|---|---|
 Poster for the 1971 On the Buses film |
|
| Format | Comedy |
| Created by | Ronald Wolfe Ronald Chesney |
| Starring | Reg Varney Bob Grant Cicely Courtneidge (first series) Doris Hare (series 2-7) Michael Robbins (series 1-6) Anna Karen Stephen Lewis |
| No. of series | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 74 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | London Weekend Television |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV1 |
| Original run | February 28, 1969 – May 20, 1973 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
On the Buses is a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers had enjoyed successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife for the BBC. The BBC rejected On the Buses and the duo turned to the ITV company London Weekend Television. The show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.
Contents |
Situation
Stan Butler (Reg Varney) works as a bus driver for the Luxton & District Traction Company. He lives with his bingo-loving, widowed and overbearing mother (Cicely Courtneidge, later Doris Hare), his frumpy sister, Olive (Anna Karen), and his lazy brother-in-law, Arthur (Michael Robbins). The bane of Stan's life is Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake (Stephen Lewis), who is often checking up on him and his conductor and friend, the cheerful, bucktoothed Jack Harper (Bob Grant). Blakey threatens them with the sack for lateness and untidiness; he sports a toothbrush moustache and general appearance in the image of Adolf Hitler. His catchphrases are "I 'ate you Butler!" and "You've made my day." In later years Arthur and then Stan left the series, Olive worked for the bus company and Blakey moved in to board at Mum's house.
Background
Seventy-four half-hour episodes were made. Also popular were the spin-off films by Hammer Film Productions (On the Buses, 1971; Mutiny on the Buses, 1972; Holiday on the Buses, 1973, set on a Pontin's holiday camp). On the Buses became Britain's top box-office film at the time, surpassing the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
In addition, two five-minute Christmas specials were made by LWT. One has been wiped but the other — featuring a goose that the cast are chasing for Christmas dinner — exists at Fremantle Media.
A spin-off series, Don't Drink the Water, ran for 13 episodes from 1974 to 1975. This featured Blake retiring to Spain with his sister, Dorothy (Pat Coombs).
The format of On the Buses was sold to American television, where it was remade by NBC as Lotsa Luck, starring Dom DeLuise, running for 24 episodes in 1973–74. The American version was unsuccessful and has never been screened in Britain.
The series was recorded at London Weekend Television's studios at Wembley. In late 1972 the show relocated to the company's new South Bank of the River Thames; here the outside doors to the main and secondary studios were too small to accommodate the double-decker buses used in the series. Therefore single-decker buses were used and a plywood mock-up of a second deck was lowered from a lighting rig.
Filmed external shots were part of the series. LWT arrangedt with Eastern National bus company to use their buses at the Wood Green bus garage in north London. For theseries, they were under the ownership of 'Luxton and District'. 'Luxton' is supposed to be in Essex, and actual Essex towns such as Southend, Basildon, Braintree and Tilbury are all mentioned. One of the termini for the buses was 'Cemetery Gates' and for this, LWT used the entrance to Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield, north London, near Reg Varney's home.
The fourth season was affected by the ITV Colour Strike, with seven of 13 episodes being made in black and white.
On the Buses was the subject of a board game by Denys Fisher games.
After a tour of Australia in 1988 in an On the Buses stage play, a revival of the television series, Back on the Buses was mooted in 1990, featuring Varney, Lewis, Robbins, Hare, Karen and Grant. Despite publicity, including an appearance by the cast on the BBC TV chat show Wogan, the proposal was not taken up by LWT and the series was never made. Although scripts were never written, the proposed series was to feature Stan and Jack running their own bus company and coming into conflict with Blakey, who was running a rival firm. Reg Varney died on 16 November 2008.
Episodes
References in popular culture
- On the Buses is referenced in the comic novel The Garden of Unearthly Delights by Robert Rankin. The novel is set in a far distant future in which the show has become the basis of a religious cult.
- On the Buses was referred to on the Australian Triple M radio show Get This, featuring Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee and Richard Marsland. Martin would often break into an impersonation of Blakey.
- An episode of Harry and Paul, broadcast 3 October 200, features a parody called "Omni-Busses".
Buses
The buses were Bristol Lodekkas with bodywork by Eastern Coach Works of Lowestoft.
DVD releases
The series has been released on DVD.
Region 1: On the Buses: The Ultimate Collection is an 11-disc set containing all seven series.
Region 2: On the Buses: The Complete Series was released in November 2006 and contains all seven series.
Region 4: the first five series have been released, with the others to follow.