” I hate you Butler !”
This catchphrase used by Stephen Lewis’s Inspector Blake could equally have been used by this sitcoms many critics who lamented the comedy adventures of its hero bus driver Stan Butler, played by Reg` Varney. However the viewing public loved the show, which got excellent ratings. Commissioned by Frank Muir, it was the creation of Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. If the writing failed to impress, the cast featured many popular stalwarts of British Television. In addition to Varney and Lewis there were Anna Karen, as Stan`s Sister Olive and and Micheal Robbins, as her Husband Arthur. Stan`s conductor was Jack Harper, a stereo typical “Jack the lad” character, who was played Bob Grant. The role of Stan and Olive`s Mother Mabel, was taken initially by Cicely Courtneidge, but was replaced by Doris Hare after the first season. The program seems to have lost much of its audience appeal in the last season with the departure of Micheal Robbins and Reg` Varney. “On The Buses” without its central character was a strange concept. How could a show that was all about a Bus Driver and his relationships with his family and work mates continue without that Bus Driver ? The answer seems to have been that it could not. Season 7 was to be the last.
Whatever its merits as comedy “On The Buses” holds considerable interest as cultural history. It depicts an English Working Class way of life which no longer exists. Much of the humour comes from the attempts of Stan` and Jack to bed their female colleges at the fictional Luxton and District Bus Company. The characters and there attitudes were of the time and many would be unlikely to find acceptance on television today.
Equally typical of the times was the ITV Colour Strike which meant that 7 episodes of season 3 had to be made in black and white.
It was perhaps fitting that Hammer Films produced 3 “On The Buses” movies. Hammer had a long history of radio and television spin-offs and their “On The Buses” ones did very good box office: On the Buses (1971), has Stan` and Jack resisting the feminisation of labour by sabotaging the Bus Company`s attempts to employ female drivers. Still a controversial mater in 1971. “Mutiny On The Buses”(1972) again featured Stan` and Jack trying to oppose the Bus Company`s modernisation plans. This time it is the introduction of radio control that they are trying to sabotage. “Holiday on the Buses” (1973) begins with Stan`, Jack, and Inspector Blake all being dismissed from the Bus Company. All three get new jobs at Pontins holiday camp in Prestatyn, North Wales. Stan` and Jack running the camp bus and “Old Blakie” as head of security. The film involves a slapstick sequence of Stan`s Sister Olive and her Husband Arthur going on Holiday on a motorcycle and a romance between Stan`s Mother and Irish widower Bert Thomson. Thomson was played by Wilfrid Bramble and the character is very reminiscent of the one hat he played in the Beatles film “A Hard Days Night.”
In 1974, a year after the demise of the original program, LWT produced a short lived spin off series featuring Inspector Blake. Entitled “Don’t Drink The Water” , the show featured Blakey retiring to Spain with his Sister. The show ran to a second season in 1975.
