Here Come the Double Deckers

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Here Come the Double Deckers
Format Children's television series
Created by Harry Booth, Roy Simpson & Glyn Jones
Starring Michael Audreson
Gillian Bailey
Bruce Clark
Peter Firth
Brinsley Forde
Melvyn Hayes
Debbie Russ
Douglas Simmonds
Country of origin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Flag of the United States United States
Production
Running time 30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel ABC & BBC One
Original run September 12, 1970 (US)
January 8, 1971 (UK) – September 3, 1972 (US)
April 30, 1971 (UK)

Here Come the Double Deckers was a seventeen-part British children's TV series from 1970/1971 revolving around the adventures of seven children whose den was an old red double-decker London bus in an unused works (junk) yard. A co-production between British independent film company Century Films and American TV company 20th Century Fox, it was a comedy adventure sitcom similar in look and feel to other late 1960s / early 1970s sitcoms such as The Monkees, The Partridge Family and the Banana Splits. The shows (without ads) were about 21 minutes long.

The programme made its debut on September 12, 1970 at 10:30 am ET in the US on ABC, and at 4:55 pm on January 1, 1971 in Britain on BBC One. In the US, the series was rerun on Sunday mornings during the 1971-1972 TV season on ABC from September 12, 1971 to September 3, 1972, in the same time slot.[1]

Each week saw the gang in a separate adventure including episodes based around a runaway home-made hovercraft, a chocolate factory and a gun that shot out sweets, invading Martians, and a haunted castle.

The cast were unknowns apart from Melvyn Hayes who appeared as Albert the Street Cleaner. Of the younger stars, Peter Firth has gone on to a prominent acting career, appearing in Equus, The Hunt for Red October, Tess, Pearl Harbor and Spooks. Co-star Brinsley Forde later became the lead singer in Aswad.

The series was original scheduled for 26 episodes, followed by a further series, but production ceased after the 17th due to financial difficulties and alleged irregularities.[citation needed].

Due to legal issues the show has never been available on video (except in France) or DVD.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Children

[edit] Some of the "Guest Artistes in the show

[edit] Episodes

  1. Tiger Takes Off (Tiger is on an out of control hovercraft Brains invented).
  2. The Case of the Missing Doughnut (Doughnut eats an invisibility formula Brains invented).
  3. Get a Movie On (The gang make a film to enter a contest).
  4. Starstruck (The gang are chased around Elstree Studios, as they look for a lost dog).
  5. Happy Haunting (Albert takes them to a castle for a day out).
  6. Summer Camp (They camp in a field with a stuck-up couple who get the worst of it).
  7. The Pop Singer (The group try to launch someone's pop career with a disco).
  8. Scooper Strikes Out (Scooper is knocked out by the baseball and finds himself with Alice in Wonderland, i.e., the junk yard).
  9. Robbie the Robot (Brains invents a robot which is sent to rescue Tiger's tiger.)
  10. The Go-Karters (A biker named Nigel sabotages the group's go-kart, so Spring ends up in court after a high speed police chase.)
  11. A Helping Hound (The gang try to help a woman decorate her house and almost wreck it but a lost dog comes to their aid.)
  12. Invaders from Space (Men in spacesuits are advertising a new candy bar called Planet 7 but the gang think it is an alien invasion.)
  13. Barney (Barney is a one-man band who keeps getting moved on by the police.)
  14. Man's Best Friend (The gang put on a show with aluminium foil as an entry fee to buy a guide dog for the blind.)
  15. United We Stand (Mr Beaumont, the owner of the Wright and Boston Ltd, Scrap Metal Merchants yard that the gang use wants to turn it into a car park but the kids sabotage his meeting with the Mayor.)
  16. Up to Scratch (Billie has to look after a dog named Scratch which runs off after a man with a flea circus turns up.)
  17. A Hit for a Miss (The boys fall for substitute teacher Miss Petit (which makes Billie jealous) and help her put on a show for an old folks home.)

[edit] Original Soundtrack

Music played a prominent part in the programme, with an original soundtrack sung by the cast and written by Harry Booth, Melvyn Hayes and Johnny Arthey. The music was composed and directed by Ivor Slaney. An 11-track album of this was issued on Capitol Records in 1970 and re-issued as a CD in 2007.[2].

  1. It's A Day And A Half (from episode 5)
  2. To The Countryside (from episode 6)
  3. Good Day At Yellow Rock (from episode 3)
  4. With A Little Bit Of Love (from episode 17)
  5. I Gotta Get Through (from episode 7)
  6. Get On Board (Title song)
  7. Life Is A Wonderful Thing (from episode 7)
  8. Grannie's Rocking Chair (from episode 6)
  9. One Man Band (from episode 13)
  10. Welcome To The Party (from episode 8. Scooper was the only one of the gang singing in this. Jane Seymour and others sang too.)
  11. Fat Ladies (from episode 17)

[edit] Trivia

  • Only in the start title are the kids seen riding a double decker bus which is done with a stationary model and back projection of either Whitehall, Westminster Bridge or Pall Mall.
  • Melvyn Hayes is also listed as the 'Dialogue Director' in the end credits. He worked with Harry Booth on the screenplay of episode 3 and wrote the screenplay for episode 14.
  • Episode 4 features the kids at Elstree Studios (called Century Film Studios) where the show was made, where they cause havoc on various sets.
  • Episode 4 features the Itali Conti Stage School.
  • Episode 5, as Albert turns up in a hired car, the kids call out to him before they can see him.
  • Episode 5 ends with a trailer for episode 6 instead of the usual: "See you next week!" from the kids.
  • Episode 9 has Brain's robot entering an inventor's competition at Century Television Studios.
  • Episode 13. Barney mentions Umslopogaas (a Zulu character from H. Rider Haggard's stories).
  • Episode 14 is dedicated to Guide dogs for the Blind. 30 sacks of aluminium foil can be sold to buy one guide dog.
  • Episode 14. Most of the gang of kids are about the same height as Albert (Melvyn Hayes) with Scooper a few inches taller than him.
  • Episode 16, the gang sing: "Old McDonald had a farm."
  • Episode 17 for the "Fat Ladies" song, the boys all wear drag and Billie dresses up as a boy.
  • Episode 17. The last episode ended with the usual: "See you next week."

[edit] Comparisons

Prior to Here Comes the Double Deckers, the series creators had also produced a similar series that ran on the BBC, called "The Magnificent Six and a Half," which ran from 1968 to 1972. The series was also seen briefly in the United States in syndication in the early 1970s. Both Auderson and Forde were regulars in this version as well.

[edit] Go for a Take

Debbie Russ appears as herself/Tiger in the comedy film Go for a Take (1972), which was directed and co-written by Harry Booth. The film stars Reg Varney and is set in a film studio. Evidently, Here Come the Double Deckers is one of the shows in production within the fiction of the film.[1]. Production was at EMI-MGM Elstree Studios and on location.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television, by Wesley Hyatt (Billboard Books, 1997)
  2. ^ http://www.cherryred.co.uk/other/product.php?display=DECKCD102 Original TV Soundtrack

[edit] External links

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