Buses on Screen: Children of Men (2006, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore)

Stunning film set in 2027 - a grim vision of Britain in which London buses are still red but with windows protected by wire mesh. Two grubby M-class MCW Metrobuses appear, one all-red, the other with a grey skirt. Martyn Pearce reports he drove one of them!
An interesting innovation is moving adverts (a computer generated effect. Check out the changes in the parked M in these two shots as the second pulls in beside it

In a movie that applies commendable attention to detail there is one obvious continuity problem. As the second M is about to pull away, Clive Owen's character runs to board it. However, the footage aboard the bus is of an Arriva London VLW-class Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini:

Julianne Moore realises our hero hasn't shaved today....

As Owen leaves the bus the painted over 'cow horns' of Arriva can be seen:

This Homeland Security bus is one of a pair of (Belfast) Citybus Bristol RELL6Gs with Alexander (Belfast) bodies, new in November 1981 and acquired by Pinewood Studios in October 2005 (thanks Aaron Donohoe). Martyn Pearce, who drove one of these buses, suggests a third may also have been acquired, "Interesting and noisy things with extra police-type lights on the roof and cages for carrying prisoners and internal flood lights I remember that they spray painted the seats to make them even more dull and depressing inside (like the whole film, really!!). At the time (although I don’t know if it happened or not) they wanted the third one to cut the roof open so that they could get interior shots from above."

The climactic shanty town battle scene features this wrecked Leyland-DAB artic, identified by 'PTD673S' as RNL 234W....

....and behind it, not clearly seen, are two derelict Leyland Lynxes:

Buses on Screen > Films > Films C > Children of Men (2006, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore)