Channel Hop: The series was initially pitched to The BBC. Despite the writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet The Wife, the corporation rejected it, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting.
Creator Couple: Anna Karen's husband Terry Duggan played five guest characters from Series 1 to Series 6.
Dawson Casting: Stan was supposed to be in his mid-thirties, but Reg Varney was 52 when the series began.
Irony as She Is Cast: As Olive, Anna Karen played a character who was presented as frumpy and uncaring of her appearance, though in real life Karen had been a model and dancer before her breakthrough role in this series. When she showcased her natural look during a magazine shoot in the 1970s, viewers were shocked at just how different she appeared from her character.
Cicely Courtneidge played Mum in Series One. Doris Hare took over the part in Series Two.
Reg Varney was unavailable for a 1972 Christmas Night with the Stars sketch, so Larry Martyn (who would later play Fred in two Series 7 episodes) filled in for him.
Blakey's niece Sally was played by Madeleine Mills in Series 3 and Sandra Miller in Series 5.
Nobby was played by Patrick Connor in Series 2 and Norman Mitchell thereafter.
Before producer Stuart Allen met Stephen Lewis when he was acting in Mrs Wilson's Diary, Dudley Foster was the first choice for Blakey.
Michael Robbins nearly missed out on playing Arthur when he received an offer for The Dustbinmen the same week he was offered this series.
In 1990 there were plans to revive the series as Back on the Buses, and the original cast appeared on Wogan to promote the new series. However, although a pilot script was written, it wasn't made. It was to feature Stan Butler, having run his own business for some years and made some money, starting his own bus company in the newly deregulated market, and hiring Jack to work with him. As they attempt to get the company off the ground, they discover a rival company has set up in the town, owned by none other than Blakey. The comedy in the series would have come from the conflict between the two businesses, and how Stan and Jack attempted to battle Blakey's bigger and more professional company.
Working Title: Just the Ticket and No Room Upstairs.
Almost as soon as Stan walks off-camera after Blakey's telling off at the start of the film, Jack rings the bell and the bus moves off, even though that wasn't nearly enough time for Stan to get to the cab.
The knickers on the line at Betty's house change positions between shots.
A tan-coloured car in front of the laundrette and two people watching from a balcony disappear between shots.
The colour of Stan's steering wheel changes colour from white to black when he is trying to make a quick getaway from Betty's house.
Vera's boots change into shoes when she feels the spiders on her legs.
The women drivers in the canteen change positions between shots.
Stan clearly misses some cups when putting Olive's diuretic pills in the women drivers' tea.
The poster on the side of Ada's bus changes when she returns to the depot after driving down the motorway.
At the end of the film, the license plate on Stan's bus changes from "WN0 476" to "VNO 857".
Germany: Adventures on the Bus/Riot at the Bus Depot/The Totally Crazy Bus.
Finland: Let's Go by Bus.
France: Aces of Imperial.
Greece: Bus Freaks.
Portugal: Curves in the Zone.
Sweden: We are all Bus Peeps.
Creator Couple: Anna Karen's husband Terry Duggan plays Nobby, one of the mechanics at the bus depot.
Creator's Favourite Episode: This was Reg Varney's favourite of the three films; he thought being the first one made it the freshest and had the best performances.
Deleted Scene: The BBFC ordered cuts to the film to maintain an A certificate.
No Stunt Double: Reg Varney did all his own bus driving, including the skid test scene where he really needed to skid the bus across the wet road himself.
The Other Darrin: Nobby was played by Patrick Connor, then Norman Mitchell in the series. Here, he's now played by Terry Duggan.
Prop Recycling: The same pair of knickers turns up on Betty's washing line and in a housewife's laundry bag.
Recycled Script: Olive is briefly employed as the canteen's cook, a plot point that had been used two years prior in the Series 1 episode, "The Canteen". The gag about Olive melting a hole in the bottom of the saucepan comes directly from that episode too.
Referenced by...: The gag of a poster reading "It's a grand life on the buses" being defaced to read "It's a randy life on the buses" was reused in the Endeavour episode "Terminus".
Uncredited Role: Linda Regan as the pretty girl on the bus in the opening credits whose knickers are leered at by Jack.
