Each week, we will be taking an in depth look at some of the best sitcoms and comedy shows from both the UK and the USA.

Today we will be looking at a comedy that was popular in the sixties and the seventies – On the Busses

Opening Titles / Theme Tune

About the Show

Summary of Plot

Number of Seasons / Episodes

7 Seasons

Characters:

Anna Karen – Olive Rudge

Bob Grant – Jack Harper

Stephen Lewis – Inspector Cyril Blake

Reg Varney – Stan Butler

Trivia

+ Although the character Stan Butler was supposed to be in his mid-30s, Reg Varney was already 52 when the series began. He wore heavy make-up so that he would appear younger.

+ There were plans to revive the series in 1990 as “Back on the Buses”.

+ Bob Grant, playing bus conductor Jack, had actually worked in real life as a bus driver in order to pay his way through RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art). He mentions this in the TV interview he did on the Wogan show in 1990. The rest of the cast were also present talking about the planned new series which sadly never got made.

+ Michael Robbins (Arthur Rudge) left the series after Season 6 to concentrate on his stage work again. The first episode of the final season is called “Olive’s Divorced”, so Arthur and Olive finally get divorced.

+ Due to a technicians’ strike during Season 4, seven of the 13 episodes were made in black and white rather than color–“Christmas Duty”, “The Anniversary”, “Cover-Up”, “Safety First”, “The Lodger”, “The Injury” and “Not Tonight”. On some of these a voice is audible directing the audience’s applause prior to the credits cutting off.

+ The series often attracted better ratings than the BBC’s Dad’s Army (1968).

+ The buses were diesel-powered Eastern National Bristol Lodekka FLF6LXs with 70-seat bodies.

Classic Clips

Sidecar crash

An episode