On the Buses

The series title card.

***On the Buses*** is a British television sitcom that was broadcast on ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned three spin-off feature films and a stage version. Despite the writers' previous successes with *The Rag Trade* and *Meet the Wife* with the BBC, the corporation rejected *On the Buses*, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to a friend, Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television, who loved the idea; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.

## Characters

### Main characters

* Reg Varney as Stanley "Stan" Butler – a bus driver who works for the Luxton and District Traction Company along with Jack and Blakey. He lives with his mother Mabel, sister Olive and brother-in-law Arthur. Stan often chats up the clippies at the bus depot.
* Cicely Courtneidge (series 1) and Doris Hare (series 2-7) as Mabel Butler, Stan's mother. She is a maiden in distress when it comes to money. The Butler household is forever losing money and regularly getting the electricity cut off. Mabel is frequently caught up in arguments between Arthur, Olive and Stan.
* Anna Karen as Olive Rudge, Stan's sister. Olive is always being criticised by her husband Arthur, even though she helps her mum with household jobs and frequently helps Stan with the decorating. Olive has twice been a clippie at the bus depot, both times being unsuccessful. She is always wanting "an early night" with Arthur, much to his displeasure.
* Michael Robbins as Arthur Rudge, Stan's brother-in-law. Somewhat aloof and stuck up, he frequently resists Olive's intimate advances. His hospital operation is a frequent source of ridicule from Stan and Jack. (Although the nature of the procedure is never disclosed, it is implied to have been a vasectomy or a hernia). Arthur is always tampering with his motorbike, which usually falls apart.
* Bob Grant as Jack Harper, Stan's conductor, best friend (although throughout the series he regularly attempts to discredit Stan by underhanded means, as innuendo, accusation, or the like) and next-door neighbour. He and Stan are always getting into trouble and getting reprimanded by Inspector Blake. Whether it is tampering with radio controls, putting "DIVERSION" road signs in the wrong places or going on dates with the buxom clippies, they are always getting into scrapes. Jack is also the shop steward of the bus depot, and frequently abuses his position to thwart Blakey's schemes, usually with the catchphrase "As shop steward I am here to tell you.....".
* Stephen Lewis as Cyril "Blakey" Blake – the inspector at the bus depot. Whenever there is a "brilliant idea" at the bus depot, it is usually Blakey's. These are usually elaborate schemes to temper Stan's and Jack's frequent insubordination, or to entrap them in their misadventures in a bid to get them fired. However Blakey's schemes typically backfire with hilarious consequences, and land him either in trouble with the General Manager or in hospital.

### Recurring characters

* Michael Sheard as the General Manager of the bus depot. He is always arguing with Blakey about something that the latter has done. He was also the judge at the gardening competition in the episode "Gardening Time".
* Madeleine Mills and Sandra Miller as the Inspector's niece. She was seen twice played by Madeleine Mills and twice by Sandra Miller. In her first two appearances she and Stan are in a love relationship; in the second they are engaged, but a tea party at Stan's house makes them split up. In her third appearance she got married to Bill, a bus driver at the depot. She also appeared in the episode "The New Nurse".
* Sandra Bryant as Sandra – a clippie at the bus depot. Her character is seen frequently throughout the seventh series. In the first episode of the seventh series, she goes on a date with Stan to the cinema, until Olive comes along too.
* Terry Duggan and Norman Mitchell as Nobby – one of the bus depot's mechanics. He often assists Stan and Jack in their typical schemes and misadventures.

## Episodes

*Main article: List of On the Buses episodes*

## Films

The series spawned three feature film spin-offs and a stage version

The three spin-off films were produced by Hammer Film Productions. They are *On the Buses* (1971), *Mutiny on the Buses* (1972), and *Holiday on the Buses* (1973), set in a holiday camp. *On the Buses* became Britain's top box office film of 1971.

The films were set in a different canon to the series – in the films, Arthur and Olive manage to have a child despite their apparently sexless marriage and Arthur's 'operation' - which was never explicitly revealed as to what this was. Arthur's operation is mentioned in the first film, but later Olive gives birth to their baby son - the three films following a loose story arc which follows their son (Little Arthur) growing up. Olive is pregnant with a second child at the end of *Mutiny*, but no further mention of this was made in the third film *Holiday*, set mainly in a Holiday Camp. The bus depot becomes The Town & District Bus Company instead of The Luxton & District Traction Company. The buses in the films are red ones.