Buses on Screen - TV shows Hm-Hz


Holiday (BBC travel programme)
Opening credits of Holiday 69 shown (surprise) in 1969 feature an unidentified British coach, possibly Weymann bodied (?). A report from the series on coach travel has footage of Wallace Arnold 208HUM, a Leyland Leopard PSU3 on a tour to the Isle of Man and the English Lakes. This footage can be seen in a BBC documentary series 'The Way We Travelled'.

Terry Jones notes the show "variously featured coach tours and heritage services during the 1990s, including the following:
1950 Bedford OB/Duple BJV590 - 'The Trossachs Trundler' (Easter 1994)
1948 Austin CXB/Barnard VVS913 ' Katie' on the Isles of Scilly.
Classique Coaches, Scottish Highlands (Dec.1995), with 1950 AEC Regal III/Duple LTA629, and also one of the ex-Southdown Leopards with Harrington Cavalier body.
Cosy Coach Tours, at Hardwick Hall, near Sheffield, with 1948 Bedford OB/Duple ATS408."


A Holiday 2004 show on California and the Yosemite National Park briefly features the Green Tortoise and one of its green touring coaches.
Chris Hough reports: "The BBC Holiday Programme broadcast on 29 March 2004 featured a break in Majorca which suggested a good way to see Palma was by using the open top bus tour The vehicle in a red livery appeared to be similar to the open top East Lancs Dennis vehicles used in Paris although one of them did carry the fleetname PMT!"

In Holiday 2005, Chris Hough noted a blue and fawn AEC Routemaster seen in a show which visited Ushuaia in Argentina, the most southerly city on earth. This is former London Transport RM317 (WLT317)
Holiday on a Shoestring (BBC holiday series)
In a 2002 show, Jayne Middlemiss rides the trams in Lisbon.
Holiday Showdown
Two very different families get to try out eachother's idea of a holiday.
Show 1 featured coaches parked at a ferry terminal in St Petersburg, including one with 'Sputnik' fleetname.
Show 2 featured a holiday on a converted AEC Routemaster, formerly London Transport RM1842 (BFW544B). Contrary to expectation (and one suspects what the programme makers hoped), the two families hit it off and had a great time. (thanks Stephen Osman)
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This Shamrock Coaches vehicle is also glimpsed:
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A November 2003 show took in a camp site in Newquay, Cornwall. "Unfortunately no Cornish VRs but we did get to see First Western National Dennis Javelin/Plaxton 2854 (P236 CTA) in Central London as one of the families set off west, along with a Connex Optare Solo and one of their Tridents/Alexander." (thanks Graeme Selway)
Holiday - You Call the Shots (BBC holiday series)
A feature on Vienna with Trevor Nelson first broadcast 13 October 2003 features many trams, including 4006.
Hollyoaks (Channel 4 soap)
"Chester City Transport occasionally supplies buses to Mersey Television for use in C4's Hollyoaks. Usually a Plaxton Dart, but has been 249 (Marshall Minibus) on at least one occasion." (thanks Pete Thomas)

"Hollyoaks 'Indecent Exposure' - initially a video (November) but broadcast on 22 January 2002 featured Liverpool Motor Services open top Leyland Titan PD2/40/Weymann CWM154C (originally Southport 54)." (thanks Paul Turner)
Homeground (BBC documentary series)
Fares Please:
In 2000 this segment of the Homeground series looked at AEC Routemasters on service 73 between Tottenham and Belgravia.
Life Through the Lens:
This 2003 documentary showcases the 16mm films taken by the late multimillionaire David Clarke. Seen in several clips is a 1950s-era Howletts of Quorn coach, number 12. Can anyone identify? There are glimpses of other vehicles.
The Honeymooners (Paramount situation comedy)
Classic show starring Jackie Gleason centres around Ralph Kramden, a Brooklyn-born bus driver for the Gotham Bus Company. He drives bus fleet numbers 802 and 247 up and down Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Read more at The Honeymooners
There have been several series based on the original:
'Miodowe Lata' - a Polish show about a Warsaw tram motorman
'Toen was geluk nog heel gewoon' - a Dutch show about a Rotterdam bus driver.
'Rena Rama Rolf' showed on Sweden's TV4 and depicted the life of a Gothenburg tram driver.
'Ratikka-Raimo' was a Finnish remake for MTV3.
The format also became the basis for 'The Flintstones' cartoon.
Hope and Keen's Crazy Bus (BBC children's series)
"The actual vehicle that appeared was former Cardiff 357 (SKG357), a 1959 Daimler CSG6 with East Lancs H35/28R body. They had Manchester 'new look' fronts and the PSV Circle reported that they were believed to be the only short versions of this model in the country." (thanks Roger Holmes)
Horizon (BBC documentary series)
(a mystery sighting probably cleared up!)
"from your Mystery Sightings section:
'A 1982 BBC documentary about the problems of running services in London featured many London scenes etc. (thanks Trev)':
I remember this documentary, I'm pretty sure it was a 'Horizon' episode and it had shots of early DMSs being broken up and explained things like how engine oil was examined to detect signs of potential future mechanical failures. It was very interesting and I'd love to see it again, now from a very much historical perspective, rather than leading edge, as it was then." (thanks Kevin McGowan)
A House That's Just Like Yours (Five UK children's show)
In one show Dusty, one of the puppet stars, takes a trip on London United VA64 (V180OOE), a Volvo B7TL/Alexander operating route 71 from Turnham Green, although one brief rear view (maybe not of the same vehicle) shows route 65.
Housewife, 49 (Granada TV wartime drama)
Victoria Wood stars in a straight role, and there is a brief glimpse of preserved Barrow Corporation 170 (CEO957) an anachronistic 1958 Leyland Titan PD2/40/Park Royal, identified by Ian Roberts:
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How Clean is Your House? (Channel 4 reality show)
While watching this show on BBC America, Geoff Cook notes "the two ladies were cleaning a house in the Northeast of England (Sorry missed the location). A side shot of a Coastline Olympian, (if you are quick you may be able to get the fleetnumber!), as they comment about the bus exhaust getting into the house! A bit later, through a window getting its first clean in 10 years, another Coastline double decker can be seen!"
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (BBC reality show)
Andrew Lloyd-Webber's quest for a star for his new production of 'The Sound of Music' with the help of the viewers at home was a relatively intelligent addition to the genre.
In the second show Tim Wootton's former Southern National LTA750, ex Western National 1411, looked superb transporting the hopefuls to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's home.
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Tim has kindly provided these photos of the massed Marias and the bus parked on the drive
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...and this of Tim and LTA750
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How It's Made (Productions MAJ documentary series)
Episode 5.2 from 2005 shows the building of a NovaBus LFS for Toronto Transit Commission:
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How Soaps Changed the World (Channel 4 documentary)
Includes footage from the Coronation Street episode in which a character is killed by a Blackpool tram.
How We Used To Live (Granada schools series)
One programme featured an 1890 Manchester Carriage and Tramways garden seat horse bus supplied by the Museum of Transport, Manchester (thanks Bob Wingrove)
ex Keighley-West Yorkshire K451 (JUB29), a 1932 Leyland Titan TD1 with Eastern Coachworks lowbridge body new to Glasgow Corporation but carrying Keighley-West Yorkshire livery (thanks Keith Jenkinson).

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updated 20 May 2008
Buses on Screen - TV shows Hm-Hz