Being a fan of the original TV series of On The Buses and the 3 feature films that followed this documentary was a sheer joy for me hearing key members of the cast and production team recall their memories of working on the movies.
My parents took me to see On the Buses (1971) and Mutiny On the Buses (1972) at the cinema as a child and, being obsessed by London Transport Routemaster buses anyway, these movies were a real treat, especially the scene in the first film where Stan, played by Reg Varney, has to prove his driving skills on the skid pan in a Routemaster after having trashed a bus stop in an earlier scene.
It was great to hear from actor Stephen Lewis talking about his iconic 'Blakey' character as well as Reg Varney on Stan and Anna Karen on Olive. The casting was a key factor in the success of On the Buses along with other regulars Michael Robbins, Bob Grant and Doris Hare however some of the original cast members were no longer with us when this documentary was made but we get a great insight into the production of the movies from Hammer producer Roy Skeggs and writers Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe in particular.
Riffing off the success of the Carry On films and the TV spin-off of Til Death Us Do Part (1968) these movies expanded on the original TV premise and were a bit saucier and ranchier than they were on TV. For this reason they may look dated to new audiences today but at the time millions flocked to the cinema to see big screen versions of their favourite TV shows following the success of the first On the Buses movie.
Hammer Films boss Michael Carreras decided the company couldn't go on just making horror films to survive so they diversified into comedy and the gamble paid off. The first On the Buses movie made a million pounds in the first few weeks and was a runaway success in the UK beating many American releases.
Hammer went on to produce other TV spinoffs such as Love Thy Neighbour, Nearest & Dearest and Man About the House but it was only On the Buses that had 3 films made from it as the movies proved more popular than the TV series which was often confined to a studio.
I still watch these movies regularly today as they never fail to put a smile on your face. This documentary may have been a long time coming but for fans it was a worthwhile wait.
