Classic Television - Saturday Mornings

Here Come the Double Deckers

Original channel

ABC

BBC One

Original run

September 12 1970 - September 3, 1972 (US)

January 8, 1971 – April 30 1971 (UK)

Starring

Michael Audreson

Gillian Bailey

Bruce Clark

Peter Firth

Brinsley Forde

Melvyn Hayes

Debbie Russ

Douglas Simmonds

Nigel Barker

Here Come the Double Deckers was a 17-part British children's TV series from 1970-71 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 children's comedy adventure sitcom. The shows (without adverts) were about 25 minutes long.

The program 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 1. In the US, the series was rerun on Sunday mornings during the 1971-72 TV season on ABC from  September 12, 1971 to  September 3, 1972, in the same time slot.

Each week saw the gang in a separate adventure including episodes based around a runaway homemade hovercraft, a chocolate factory and invading 'Martians' with guns that shot out chocolate candy, a disastrous camping holiday, collecting tin foil for a guide dog, becoming pop moguls with their protégé 'The Cool Cavalier' and a haunted stately home.

Some of the cast were unknown, though Melvyn Hayes was an established adult actor, Gillian Bailey was fairly experienced for a child actor and both Brinsley Forde and Michael Audreson had appeared in "The Magnificent Six and Half", a series of Children's Film Foundation films on which the Double Deckers were based. Melvyn Hayes also wrote the episode "Man's Best Friend", co-wrote the episode "Get a Movie On!", co-wrote the series' theme song, and acted as a dialogue coach for the series. Bailey is now head of the drama department at Royal Holloway University. Peter Firth has gone on to a prominent acting career, appearing in Equus, The Hunt for Red October, Tess, Pearl Harbor, and Spooks (MI-5). Co-star Brinsley Forde later became the lead singer in Aswad.

The series was originally scheduled for 26 episodes (as well as a second series of 26 additional episodes), but production ceased after 17 had been completed.

The entire series was released on 1 November 2010 on DVD in the UK.