Buses on Screen - TV shows S-Sl

S4C documentaries

"In the past two to three years S4C (the Welsh Channel 4) has shown documentaries on:
The TrawsCambria service (Holyhead-Cardiff)
'Dave' Singh, an Asian-born driver based at Machynlleth, featuring his work; I missed it, but am told it included Darts!"
(thanks Gwyn Griffiths)

The Saint (ITC thriller series)

The Roger Moore series has several bus sightings:
Episode 1.01 has Thames Valley 601 (FMO983), a lowbridge Bristol KSW6B/ECW showing Maidenhead as destination.
Episode 5.11 has stock footage of Berlin, showing Bussing D2U doubledeckers
Episode 5.13 has views of London Transport RTs

Salvage Squad (Channel 4 documentary series)

Michael Gardner reports a show in season 2 of this series devoted to the restoration of a tram: Stephen Osman confirms this as Blackpool Coronation tram 304, already under restoration by volunteers from the Lancastrian Transport Trust. Stephen's full notes:
"The Blackpool tramcar in question was fleet number 304, the first Coronation in the batch, which was renumbered in 1968 as number 641. It had resided at St Helens Transport Museum since 1986.
In the opening scenes at the museum, numerous buses were visible, those that could be identified comprising:
Lancaster Daimler CVG5/Northern Counties 466 (NTF466), Greater Manchester Leyland Atlantean/Northern Counties 8151 (VBA151S), St Helens Leyland PD2A/27/East Lancs 54 (MDJ554E), North Western Bristol RESL/Marshall 299 (KJA299G), Warrington Leyland PD2/40/East Lancs 50 (BED731C) and Warrington tram no. 2.
In Blackpool, the following trams could be noted: Balloons 701/2/10/6/7, ex Bolton standard 66, Railcoach 622, Centenary 648, "Trawler" (ex Railcoach) 633, Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad "Vanguard" replica (ex Railcoach) 619, Boat (open top Railcoach) 602, a modernised Balloon (either 707 or 709) and Engineering car 754. Also noted were Blackpool Transport ancillary Ford Transit 927 and Mercedes tower wagon 940, together with Leyland Olympian/East Lancs 368 (F368AFR) in the depot's bodyshop. Old film footage was also shown of Coronations (including 316) and Balloons in service in the 50's and 60's."

The Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC children's science fiction series)

Episode 1: Invasion of the Bane
Brightly painted Leyland-National HNB24N is used as a battering ram in the pilot for the second Doctor Who spin-off featuring the popular Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elizabeth Sladen:

HNB24N was new as Greater Manchester PTE 105 and is now preserved by SELNEC Preservation Society. (thanks Anthony, Phil Groocock, Matthew Aldous and Noel Baxendale)

Saturday Night Live (NBC comedy show)

Carlos Wallberg reports a show hosted by William Shatner, which spoofs Capra´s 'It´s a Wonderful Life'; at the opening a bonneted bus is seen passing by the background. The show was broadcast on 20 December 1986, and also famously included a sketch in which Shatner tells an obsessive Star Trek fan at a convention to 'get a life!'.

A Dorothy L Sayers Mystery: Have His Carcass (BBC/WGBH crime mini-series)

Features preserved London Transport ST922 (GJ2098), a Tilling-bodied AEC Regent new to Thomas Tilling in 1930, now preserved at Cobham Bus Museum.

School Day (BBC drama)

Scot Fergie reports: "Seen 23 July 2004 on the 'Sign Zone' on BBC1 (signed programmes for the deaf), a programme called 'School Day' (started at 2.50am), with a school bus driver seen trying to calm down the adolecents on the upper deck of an ECW bodied bus. Turns out in a wide shot he's driving OFS668Y, painted light blue with yellow front ends (school bus-style). 668 was the very first (numerically) Leyland Olympian/Eastern Coachworks for Lothian Transport.
Curiously the seats were covered in a maroon-patterned moquette."

Scrapheap Challenge (Channel 4 game show )

Regular background in two seasons is this wrecked former London Central Leyland Titan, formerly T1033 (A633THV):

....and in the same corner of the yard is this minibus:

"Earlier series of Scrapheap Challenge and its US equivalent filmed in Britain were made in a scrapyard that contained the wreck of an unidentified coach." (thanks Stephen Osman)
Stephen also reports "In the episode of the current (new) series (filmed this season in a new scrapyard near Reading) broadcast on Sunday 6/10/2002, the two teams of 4 were given the task of building a 'blind-navigation vehicle' in which they had to drive around a pre-set course with the windows of their vehicles painted out. One of the teams opted to do the conversion work on a 3-axle Talbot Freeway minibus registered L113FOJ! The bus was yellow with a single green stripe on each side, and a white roof and was of B-DL layout (with the seats and rear door wheelchair lift missing already) and was probably a former non-PSV vehicle. During the 10-hour conversion, the vehicle was fitted with a scrap-built retractable turntable under the centre floor, which was lowered on chains and raised with 2 manual trolley jacks to lift the bus, which was then turned by hand from inside. To measure the distance travelled, the bus was fitted with a giant wind chime on the side of the rear bodywork which was "bonged" by a metal bar welded to one of the rear wheels. For the competition the following day, both teams' vehicles had all their windows painted over, but the end result was that L113FOJ was beaten by the other team's converted vehicle: Bedford ambulance NYR710Y!"
Answering Graham Selway's request on the uk-bus-fleetnews Yahoo group, Ken Lansdowne identifies L113FOJ's original owner as the London Borough of Barnet. Stephen Parker also notes an LDV minibus in the show.

In another show involving construction of a clockwork car, Bob Wingrove notes footage of "one of the Swiss built Olerkon [not sure of the spelling] gyro buses in service, this is the first time I've ever seen film of these buses running. It showed the bus pulling up at a stop and the three arms on the roof raising to charge up the flywheel."

Adam Floyd reports on the 2005 second semi-final: "a most thrilling challenge to build and race drag trucks! The vehicle of choice for the Power Lifters was Leyland Leopard/Duple WRO 433S (new to Guards, London W1); apart from a crushed roof, it didn't look too bad and still had a decent set of seats. Shorn of its body and with a monstrous truck engine mounted on top of the chassis frame, it powered them to victory against the Big Dippers' twin-engined Ford Cargo!"

A further show opened with one of the teams riding (and driving) this opentopper:

S Club 7: Don't Stop Movin' (BBC children's series)

Steve Dave supplied this screenshot of the DSB Ayats Bravo double-deck coach (registration W60DSB) used as the S Club 7 tour bus for S Club Carnival 2002, which was the subject of the series. Click for a bigger image.

The Screech Owls (YTV childrens series)

Episode 2 of this Canadian series about a kids' hockey team has them arriving at hockey camp in their own yellow school bus.

Second Chance

Bob Wingrove provided these screen captures of Manchester Corporation Leyland Titan PD2/6/Metro-Cammell 3245 (JND646) featured in this adult learning programme with Mike Harding. In the background of the first shot is Manchester's 3228 (JND629), a PD2/3 with Metro-Cammell body.

The Second World War in Colour (Trans World International for Carlton)

One programme "featured distant views of two Bristol G or K type double-deckers of Bristol Tramways & Carriage Co Ltd/Bristol Joint Services, in the city at Park Street photographed from College Green, still a good location. The livery wasn't clear (dark blue pre-war - khaki wartime paints - Tilling green late 1940s.) The film almost certainly came from Bristol Record Office mentioned in the credits." (thanks Alan Walker)

Secret Army (BBC wartime resistance serial)

"In the 1970s drama series 'Secret Army' concerning the Belgian resistance in World War II, a 1930s Paris open-back Renault bus appeared in one episode. In another episode,a Brussels tram appeared. I understand from a 1970s edition of 'Modern Tramway' magazine that this episode was shot using a preserved 1920s car on a disused stretch of track" (thanks Alan Sinclair)

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 (Thames drama serial)

There are front and rear views of Leicester City 41 (TBC41X), a 1981 Dennis Dominator/East Lancs - the rear in episode 1 and the front in episode 6. Episode 1 also has a shot of a white/green Plaxton coach, probably a Leyland Leopard. Episode 5 has views of a Duple Dominant II bodied coach belonging to A C Motors, apparently a Ford R1114 but confirmation would be good!

Secret History (Channel 4 documentary series)

The Killer Fog
An insomniac Scot Fergie watching Channel 4 at 5am reports "a fascinating documentary about the 'killer' London smogs of the 1950s. And they were killers - about 1000 people died in 1952. In the programme they were talking about the smog of 1952.....Plenty of stock/news footage of last tram week, including some at the breaker's yard getting burnt, and RT/RTL/RTW etc class buses driving through smog in Piccadilly Circus etc, and other newsreel stuff of Londoners wearing airmasks and perspex helmets."

The Nazi Officer's Wife
A brief clip of wartime Vienna with a single deck tram picking up passengers (thanks Chris Hough)

Secrets of the Dead (Channel 4 documentary series)

A programme looking at the plague and its effect on a Derbyshire village includes a glimpse of a Leyland Lynx of Hulleys of Baslow.

Secrets of World War II (Channel 5)

Some brief clips in colour and black and white of London Transport buses in Central London.

Sesame Street (Children's Television Workshop childrens' series)

Some snippets gleaned from Youtube from this long-running show: 'My Dad's a Bus Driver'
..and he drives a GM New Look 'Fishbowl', fleet number 735, for Seattle Transit, circa 1970:

'Counting Buses'
Counting one to ten at the Port Authority Bus terminal in New York circa 1970:

'Identifying Different Stores'
Circa 1975 - a little girl travels on Shortline 458, a GM New Look 'Fishbowl', in New York:

Seven Days (Paramount scifi series)

Episode: Vows
Three transit buses are glimpsed in this Washington DC-set episode.

Sex and the City (HBO drama series)

Opening credits feature a passing New York RTS:

Alan Aron notes the bus "was a rental from a movie prop supply company located in Brooklyn NY by the name of Picturecars.com. It was modified with special glass so that the glare of the kleig lights used to film the show would not reflect off the glass. If one looks closely, all the passengers face forward and don't seem to notice the bus splashing Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker."
Also during the opening credits the camera is racing down Fifth Avenue. There is a quick shot of an Eagle 10 up ahead.
I believe that this RTS bus has also been rented out to Law and Order for many episodes as well as the movie 'As Good As It Gets' starring Helen Hunt, Jack Nicholson and Greg Kinnear."

Sex Chips and Rock'n'Roll (BBC1 drama)

Features a Salford Leyland Titan PD2 supplied by the Museum of Transport, Manchester. (thanks Ewood Eddie)

Sharman (World Productions/ITV private eye series)

Shortlived, grimy and formulaic, nevertheless an entertaining vehicle for Clive Owen, this mostly South London-set drama has surprisingly few views of buses. There are glimpses of Leyland Olympians, but more significant is a quick view of a London Buses SR-class Mercedes 811D/Optare Starrider in Peckham Hoppa livery, in the 1996 episode 'A Good Year for the Roses'.

Shin Chen (Fox children's cartoon series)

One episode features a Tokyo tour bus of Hato Bus.

Shoestring (BBC private eye drama )

Episode 1:9: Find the Lady
Bristol-based series about a private eye retained by a radio station.
Mike Walker comments: "Bristol Omnibus K type open top GHT127 also appeared in the episode of 'Shoestring' that featured Toyah Wilcox as a punk singer. GHT was featured driving along the sea front at Weston super Mare with the baddy (Christopher Biggins?) sat upstairs discussing his evil plot. A scene of a few seconds took three hours to shoot - I know because I was driving it!! By the end of shooting I had mastered the gearbox!" The murderer, Kenrick, was indeed played by Christopher Biggins. GHT127 is also seen in Soldier Soldier

Should I Worry About......Spending? (BBC documentary)

Graeme Selway noted Timebus RM450 (WLT450), an ex-London Transport AEC Routemaster, in this October 2004 show on BBC1, with plenty of internal and external shots of it on Oxford Street.

The Simpsons (Fox cartoon series)

The Springfield Elementary School bus is driven by Otto Mann! (thanks Stephen Osman)

Episode: 9.14 (5F11) Das Bus
A Simpsons spoof on the films 'Das Boot' and 'Lord of the Flies' features a cartoon school bus.

Episode: 9.15 (5F10) The Last Temptation of Krust
"The end of this episode turns into an ad for the 'Canyonero' 4-wheel-drive vehicle. Part of the ad shows the Canyonero forcing a yellow bus titled 'Scout Troop 137' to crash into a tree." (thanks Stephen Osman)

Episode: 9.24 (5F17) Lost Our Lisa
Lisa accidentally gets on the wrong bus (22A instead of 22, driven by a characted named Larry) on her way to the museum. She finds herself lost in unfamiliar parts of Springfield. (thanks Stephen Osman)

Single (Tiger Aspect/Carlton drama serial)

Ewan Gray reports a Dennis Dart/Carlyle and an AEC Routemaster. The Dart appears regularly; it's former London Buses DT1 (G501VYE), owned by MediaBus and driven by Kevin Stewart (thanks Kevin!)

Six Feet Under (HBO comedy drama)

Episode 1 of this Pasadena-set hit show about a family-run funeral parlour business shows the father taking the hearse to pick up a deceased. Alan Aron notes "While on the way he is killed after having a collision with a Flxible 870 built by Grumman. This incident was used so that he can appear in certain episodes as an angel to guide his family." Note the fleet number on the roof (2784) doesn't match what you can see of the fleet number on the front

Geoff Cook reports an episode in which a transit bus fleet number 6285 collides with a car.

Six Into One: The Prisoner File (Channel 4 documentary)

This documentary about the making of the series The Prisoner includes an interview on a bus.

Peter Skellern (BBC)

(included here till I can research this properly)"In the mid/late eighties the BBC ran a short series of musical playlets by Peter Skellern one of which featured a Leyland Titan PD3/East Lancs of Leicester City Transport as an integral part of the plot which concerned a brass band going to a concert and I think losing an instrument from the rear platform." (thanks Chris Hough)

The Sketch Show (ITV comedy sketch series)

This show featuring such comics as Jim Tavare and Ronnie Ancona has a sketch in which a bus conductor on an AEC Routemaster gives the traditional two rings of the bell to start the bus - at which a boxer appears, interpreting the bell as the start of a round and proceeding to hit the conductor....

Sky King (NBC aviation series)

Bob Beard drew my attention to this popular 1950s show featuring a rancher and his aeroplane, a kind of flying Western if you will. "Episode 6 has a great shot of on oldie in the last 5 minutes of so of the chapter. Looks like an Aerocoach but don't recognize the brand on the front of the bus."
All the episodes can be seen online at http://www.af.tv/skyking.htm if you're equipped for it - it's defeated me so far.

The Slammer (BBC children's variety show)

Improbably set in a prison this show has variety acts competing in front of an audience of children for the right to be released. Opeing credits feature this Kings Ferry of Kent coach.

Slaymaker (S4C movie magazine show)

A January 2003 edition of this Welsh-language show features presenter Gareth Roberts reporting in none too serious fashion on a 'Sex and the City' coach tour of New York.

Sliders (Fox then SciFi Channel scifi series)

Episode: 1:3 Prince of Wails
A red Bristol Lodekka FLF is seen posing as a London bus in San Francisco, but actually filmed in Vancouver. The fleet name 'Ensign Bus Lines' is seen on the side! Can anyone suggest an ID for the FLF?

Episode: 2:13 As Time Goes By
The Sliders are arrested by the Immigration Department and picked up in a white bus.

Episode: 2:16 Time Again and World
Story in which the Sliders arrive in a world which is a mirror of their own features a stock clip of San Francisco car 42.

Episode: 3:4 The Guardian
A glimpse of San Francisco streetcars.

Episode: Easy Slider 5:10
The Sliders arrive in the middle of nowhere and flag down a bus to get into town. It transpires that the local buses are hydrogen powered, with a maximum speed of 40mph.

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