The Show:
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 (Doris Hare - Nuns On The Run, Coronation Street), 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 fifth series are all fifteen episodes which I will now give brief details about:
The Nursery - The sister in charge of the new bus depot nursery requires an assistant to help her look after all of the clippies children. Originally aired 19th September 1971.
Stan's Room - When Stan brings back a clippie called Doreen to his house for a 'session', he is surprised to find the rest of his family have stayed up to watch a late night film. Originally aired 26th September 1971.
The Best Man - Blakey's day goes from bad to worse when he finds that not only is his niece (a clippie) getting married to one of their co-workers, but Stan is going to be best man. Originally aired 3rd October 1971.
The Inspector's Pets - Blakey says goodbye to the depot as he prepares to go on holiday with his mother, but at the last moment his mum rings to cancel. Originally aired 10th October 1971.
The Epidemic - Stan and Jack are delighted when half the workforce are struck down with flu. It means they can get some extra money in overtime to the ladies out. Originally aired 17th October 1971.
The Busmen's Ball - Arthur decides that he and Olive will not be attending the annual Busmen's Ball but quickly changes his mind when he finds out what the cabaret will be. Originally aired 24th October 1971.
Canteen Trouble - It's Blakey versus Jack and Stan as the two lads use a friend in the canteen to their advantage. Blakey must beat them at their own game. Originally aired 31st October 1971.
The New Nurse - Stan welcomes a new lodger into his families home, Mary the new nurse at the bus depot. Originally aired 7th November 1971.
Lost Property - Stan and Jack find that someone has left their fish and chips on the bus and duly eat them, only to find that the rightful owner has reported the loss to Blakey. Originally aired 14th November 1971.
Stan's Uniform - Stan manages to ruin his uniform when he is painting the kitchen chairs, and the Butlers' drain blocks up. Originally aired 21st November 1971.
The Strain - Stan has to wear a surgical corset after doing his back in attempting to pick up his girlfriend with one arm after a conversation moves onto her weight. Originally aired 28th November 1971.
The New Telly - Stan decides to buy his family a brand new colour television with his annual payout but can't seem to get rid of their old telly. Originally aired 5th December 1971.
Vacancy For Inspector - In an attempt to spread out the work, Blakey promotes Jack to inspector, who quickly promises Stan overtime where he doesn't even have to show up. Originally aired 12th December 1971.
A Thin Time - Arthur becomes attracted to clippie Beryl but he has two problems. She likes athletic men and men with a good head of hair. Originally aired 19th December 1971.
Boxing Day Special - Stan and Jack must pick up Arthur's sister Linda and her mother, with Linda taking a quick interest in the ticket puncher. Originally aired 26th December 1971.
Unfortunately, this series isn't as good as the first two and barely manages to keep up with the third and fourth series in terms of enjoyment, with some of the jokes being re-used and the story;lines moving slowly, even though each episode only lasts 25 minutes. Recommended for fans of the first four series and die hard fans of British comedy only. Distinctly average.
The DVD:
Video:
Network have provided us with the OAR of 4:3. This is the second series of On The Buses to be shown entirely in colour and unfortunately, this DVD presentation isn't as vivid as it should be and comes across rather washed out and light. However, there isn't much damage to the print in the way of grain and no major scratches which is a plus. Basically, I don't think Network have done any work to the original print here. No subtitles have been provided.
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.
