The Film:
On The Buses is one of the most famous British sitcoms to grace television, as well as one of the most successful, running for seven series (between 1969-1973) and spawning three feature length films. Made obvious from the title, On The Buses is about a group of bus company workers whose main objectives are to get through the day doing the bare minimum amount of work and ogle at as many women as possible. It stars some of Britain's best talent from the time, including Reg Varney (The Best Pair Of Legs In The Business) as the main character Stan Butler, Bob Grant (Til Death Do Us Part, The Jugg Brothers) as 'clippie' Jack Harper and their arch nemesis inspector, Cyril 'Blakey' Blake (played by Stephen Lewis - Last Of The Summer Wine, Oh Doctor Beeching!). Stan must contend with Blakey on a day to day basis as well as put up with living with his mum (Ciceley Courtneidge - The Ghost Train, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines), sister Olive (Anna Karen - Revolver, Roland Rat: The Series) and his brother in law Arthur Rudge (Michael Robbins - The Pink Panther Strikes Again, No Sex Please We're British). Included in the first series are all seven episodes in black and white (the show didn't go colour until the later series) which I will now give brief details about:
The Early Shift - The first episode gives us more of a basis about the characters, so does move a little slow in places. In this episode, Stan is made to do the early shift, but there is one problem. It means he can't use the canteen because it is closed when he is on his shifts. Stan and Jack decide to take industrial action without their union in the way of a strike, until the end, where they win the strike, and still can't use the canteen because the canteen staff have decided to strike for more pay. Originally aired 28th February 1969.
The New Conductor - Stan gets a new 'clippie' (conductor) on his route and it isn't no ordinary 'clippie', it's a female 'clippie' called Iris. After a short while, Stan takes Iris out on a date, but tells his mum that he is doing an extra shift. After going to the pub though, Stan takes Iris back to his house, much to the surprise of his mum and brother-in-law. Originally aired 7th March 1969.
Olive Takes A Trip - The third episode is based on Stan's sister, Olive, who, to help with the family income, decides to get a job as a 'clippie'. Much to Stan's disapproval and attempts of avoidance, Olive is put on Stan's bus. Trouble is, she suffers from rather bad case of travel sickness. Originally aired 14th March 1969.
Bus Driver's Stomach - Stan finds out that he as an over acidic stomach from sitting on the buses all day driving, an illness that the depot workers all call 'bus drivers stomach'. Blakey announces that all staff will be given medical checks and now Stan tries to feel better, by continuing to eat canteen food as well as his mothers. Originally aired 21st March 1969.
The New Inspector - Stan is desperate to earn money and applies for a job as an inspector. When successful with his application, he becomes one of the people he hated so much as a bus driver and xcannot help but worry what his co-workers will think about is movement into what I will call 'The Dark Side'. Originally aired 28th March 1969.
The Canteen - As complaints about the level of food and service in the depot's canteen soar, the committee hold a meeting and decide that they will try and run it themselves. The question from management however, is will it still profit, especially after Olive is given the run of the kitchen? Originally aired 4th March 1969.
The Darts Match - The final episode of the debut series, focuses on a darts match between the 'clippies' and Stan and Jack. Stan isn't playing well because he dropped one of his darts into a stew Olive was making when practising and he can't control his horniness at the fact that one of the clippies, Iris (from episode 2), is flirting with him. Originally aired 11th May 1969.
The DVD:
Video:
Network have provided us with the OAR of 4:3. The picture however, is relatively poor, suffering from a large amount of grain in some instances and darkness during outside scenes. It is over thirty years old however and that should be remembered. All in all the picture is adequate. Network, as usual, have failed to provide English subtitles.
Audio:
The original English track in Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono is provided here, and it's pretty good. The dialogue is clear and the music levels consistent. A 2.0 Stereo track would've been more sufficient, but a 5.1 track would be unnessesary and rather pointless, as there aren't that many instances for it to be used.
Extras:
None.
