I am delighted to announce that Stuart Allen is a new honorary member of ON THE BUSES fan club.
Stuart was involved in a lot of the making of ON THE
BUSES.
The Early Shift (28 February 1969) - Director, Producer
The New Conductor (3 March 1969) - Director, Producer
Olive Takes a Trip (14 March 1969) - Director, Producer
Bus Drivers' Stomach (21 March 1969) - Director, Producer
The New Inspector (28 March 1969) - Director, Producer
The Canteen (4 April 1969) - Director, Producer
The Darts Match (11 April 1969) - Director, Producer
Family Flu (31 May 1969) - Director, Producer
The Used Combination (7 June 1969) - Director, Producer Self Defence (14 June 1969) - Director, Producer
Aunt Maud (21 June 1969) - Director, Producer
Late Again (28 June 1969) - Director, Producer
Bon Voyage (5 July 1969) - Director, Producer
First Aid (2 January 1970) - Director
The Cistern (9 January 1970) - Director
The Inspector's Niece (16 January 1970) - Director
Brew It Yourself (23 January 1970) - Director
Busman's Perks (30 January 1970) - Director
The Snake (6 February 1970) - Director
Mum's Last Fling (13 February 1970) - Director
Radio Control (20 February 1970) - Director
Foggy Night (27 February 1970) - Director
The New Uniforms (6 March 1970) - Director
The Squeeze (20 March 1970) - Director
On the Make (27 March 1970) - Director
Nowhere to Go (27 November 1970) - Director
The Canteen Girl (4 December 1970) - Director
Dangerous Driving (11 December 1970) - Director
The Other Woman (18 December 1970) - Director
Christmas Duty (25 December 1970) - Director
The 'L' Bus (1 January 1971) - Director
The Kid's Outing (10 January 1971) - Director
The Anniversary (17 January 1971) - Director
Cover Up (24 January 1971) - Director
Safety First (31 January 1971) - Director
The Lodger (7 February 1971) - Director
The Injury (14 February 1971) - Director
Not Tonight (21 February 1971) - Director
This recently recieved fromStuart Allen about ON THE BUSES, thanks Stuart.
Recently my wife and I acquired a small flat in Wembley Park . The flat is a stones throw from the old LWT TV studios where I made all the early series of On the Buses, before the move to the purpose built South Bank Television Centre. It is very nostalgic for me when I pass by them. Now called the Fountain Studios they still are the home of successful TV programmes like the X Factor. This year is the thirty ninth anniversary of the recording
there of the first programme. I know that because our youngest son Ben was born in February in the early hours of the day of the recording of the second episode . I remember how pleased and embarrassed I was when I
received a round of applause from our studio audience after Cicerly Courtnidge went forward and told them after the recording, while we waited for the clear from the video recording department.
Sometime later another script called for a picture of Stan as baby naked lying on a rug. Reg Varney did not have one of himself at that age so Ben came in useful as his double.
I whipped him out of his cot and took the attached picture (see below)of him to use in the show.
The studios in Wembley were ideally suited for the making of the programme. The dock doors were high enough and the floors strong enough to support the
weight of a double-decker bus. So they were able to be driven into and around the studios. For instant in the episode a Foggy Night I filled a studio with smoke and Reg drove through the gloom to the only bit of scenery
a bus shelter .After the move to the LWT studios on the South Bank the bus was reduced to a plywood single storey mock up with fibreglass wheels on a trolley! Only on the exterior location filming was a real bus able to be
used. It wasnt quite the same. People often ask me why the bus was green.
The answer is simply that when I approached London Transport, whos depot in Stonebridge Park was just down the road, for the loan of a bus or two they
refused on the grounds that it would spoil their image if the public thought they had such lazy layabouts as Jack and Stan in their employ! Fortunately I was able to persuade The Eastern National ,whose depot was in Wood Green and not nearly so convenient ,to lend their green ones and the LUXTON and DISTRICT TRACTION COMPANY was born. After the series became a success a
director of the company told me that before On the Buses they had difficulty in recruiting drivers and conductors, but afterwards they were swamped with
applications! Of course when the Buses films came to be made the popularity of the programme was such that the film producers had no difficulty in using iconic red buses, anyway if London Transport wouldnt lend them they could afford to buy them!
Best wishes to you and everybody in the fan club. STUART ALLEN
