On The Buses - Series 5 (DVD)

On the Buses is a classic situational comedy that ran for seven series between the years of 1969 and 1973. Despite its age it simply has to be my favourite ever comedy and is something I can watch over and over again.

On the Buses follows the day-to-day antics of lecherous lay-about Stan Butler, a bus driver at the local depot, and his equally lazy and lecherous best friend and conductor Jack Harper. Together the pair will do near ...
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Series 5 of on the Buses contains 15 fantastic episodes and follows the same pattern as the previous two series' with each 25 minute episode telling a different story. Obviously therefore the episodes can be viewed at stand alones but more enjoyment is definitely to be had if they are viewed in chronological order.

The cast for series 4 remains the same as in the previous three series' and once again all the cast put in outstanding ... more

On the Buses is a classic situational comedy that ran for seven series between the years of 1969 and 1973. Despite its age it simply has to be my favourite ever comedy and is something I can watch over and over again.

On the Buses follows the day-to-day antics of lecherous lay-about Stan Butler, a bus driver at the local depot, and his equally lazy and lecherous best friend and conductor Jack Harper. Together the pair will do near enough anything to avoid doing work. The bus company's Inspector however has other ideas and is constantly reminding them to 'Get that bus out'. Somehow though the Inspector is the least of Stan's worries because when he gets home he knows all too well that his overbearing mother will be there for him to deal with and that's before he has to cope with his sister Olive and her tight-fisted husband Arthur.

Series 5 of on the Buses contains 15 fantastic episodes and follows the same pattern as the previous two series' with each 25 minute episode telling a different story. Obviously therefore the episodes can be viewed at stand alones but more enjoyment is definitely to be had if they are viewed in chronological order.

The cast for series 4 remains the same as in the previous three series' and once again all the cast put in outstanding performances. My favourite characters however are still Olive and Arthur as the banter between the pair of them is more often than not absolutely hilarious. The way in which the family often gang up on Arthur is also laugh worthy on more than one occasion. Olive has also developed quite a lot since the first series and although she is still always eating and frequently ill she has learnt to give the rest of the family as good as they give her.

Reg Varney as Stan and Bob Grant as Jack Harper again gel seamlessly together as the bus driver and bus conductor pair. Their love hate relationship with Inspector Blake is as good as ever and the way the pair interacts with one another makes their friendship seem superbly believable and therefore natural to the audience.

The scripting of the episodes within this series is a good as that of the previous series and remains fresh and interesting. The humour is fast flowing and varies from the slapstick to the subtle giving the audience a good variety of laughs. The well-known and well-repeated phrases also draw in the laughs once again as the audience near-enough waits for them to be said. Olive's "How Rude!" is still my favourite catchphrase but Arthur's "What a lot of rot you do talk" is definitely up there with it.

Each episode within this series flows very well and in my opinion this is because of the brilliant relationships between the characters. These are of course a great exaggeration of normal family life but because the family do, do normal activities - they eat, get washed, go to the loo - they are somewhat more believable and therefore the humour that they generate within the storylines is all the more worthwhile.

Because the overall quality of the episodes in series 5 is so good it is quite difficult for me to choose a favourite episode. For this reason I have chosen two episodes instead. These episodes are 'Stan's Uniform' and 'The Strain' but all the remaining episodes are just as good as the ones I have chosen.

In 'Stan's Uniform' Stan arrives home to find the drains blocked and Arthur being lazy as usual claiming he is too busy painting the chairs to do anything about it. Despite Arthur's warnings Stan undertakes the job in his uniform, I mean why would he want to get his normal clothes dirty. Of course things don't perfectly go to plan and Stan finds himself in desperate need of a new uniform. The question however, as to how long he can keep his new one clean, still remains.

In "The Strain" Stan trying to pick up one of the 'clippies' in the canteen, manages to pull a few tendons in his back. This has him stuck in bed for a period of time but eager to get back to work for the simple fact that he doesn't get sick-pay he is willing to try anything the doctor suggests. The doctor's suggestion is in fact that he wear a corset to avoid any unnecessary strain being placed on his back. The only problem with this however is that it makes getting into his bus rather difficult not to mention the fact that he also has a date.

The rest of the episodes in the series see Olive get a job in the bus depot crèche, the butler family look after the Inspector's pets and Stan and Jack try and persuade Blakey to let them have a stripper at the Busmen's Ball. Furthermore Inspector Blake bring sin new regulations with regards to lost property and Mum has her heart set on a new colour television set for Christmas.

On the Buses series 5 retails around the £7.99. For this price you receive 375 minutes of classic entertainment that will not fail to raise any mood. Unfortunately however the DVD does not contain any special features or subtitles but the comedy is that good you find you don't need them. 

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