''Busy Buses'' is an animated children's program about the lives of a group of friendly talking buses. It was originally shown on

Tiny Living The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, Asia and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat satellite ...

. It also aired on

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in Australia and

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in New Zealand, and ran for two series between 2002.

Production

''Busy Buses'' is a 3D CGI animated television series for children between the ages of three and six. Set in the fictional town of Chumley, it features a bus garage and eight colourful bus characters (Sammy, Stephanie, Harry, Colin, Arnold, Susan, Roger and Penny).

Brian Conley Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of '' The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40+ ...

narrates the stories, and he has also created the voices for all the ''Busy Buses'' (in the first series only) along with its theme tune. The series was produced by TV4C (a joint venture between Chatsworth Television, and Flicks Films) it was created, directed and produced by Terry Ward.

Episodes

Series 1 (2002)

Series 2 (2002)

# "Sammy's New Friend" – Sammy is out on the school run when he meets another bus who looks just like him, except in a different colour – and they soon make friends. # "The Football Match" – There is a football match between the Chumley buses and the Nettlefidget Rovers buses. Sammy badly wants to play in the annual Chumley football match, but the other buses think he is too young. When Roger starts to break down, he eventually gets his chance. # "Busy Bangers" – Mr. Spector mistakenly gives the buses the wrong type of fuel causing all sorts of problems throughout the day. # "Sammy the Stunt Bus" – Sammy goes to the airport with Roger, but he gets stuck in a multi-story car park when he sneaks off to watch the planes. # "A Day on the Farm" – When the buses are enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday, Farmer Waggle's tractor has broken down, and the buses are called out to help him. # "Sammy becomes a Scout" – Sammy takes the local scout group to Nettlefidget Woods on a camping trip. But the road heading to the woods is closed for emergency repair work. But Sammy has other ideas, a random shortcut which includes driving through the river and some fields! # "Stephanie Loses her Nerve" – Stephanie is too scared to leave the garage and so the other buses try a plan to help. Meanwhile, Sammy breaks down on Cowslip Down. # "A Muddy Day" – It's a rainy day and none of the buses want to go outside; except Colin, who loves the mud. # "Sammy Gets Taller" – Sammy is upset that he is shorter than the other buses, and comes up with some odd ways to make himself taller. Meanwhile, Roger gets stuck in a new airport tunnel and Sammy rushes to the rescue. # "Sammy's Midnight Adventure" – Tommy comes to visit again and stays over in the garage. He and Sammy sneak out during the night to see the sights of Chumley. # "One Eyed Roger" – Roger has had a busy day but needs to make a late night trip to the airport. When one of his headlights goes out on the way, he gets into trouble. # "Rick the Racing Bus" – Sammy is going in for a full service and Rick comes to stand in for him, however Rick, his replacement, drives too fast and makes everyone sick. # "The Big Parade" – Buses from far and wide come to Chumley to take part in a big bus parade to choose 'Bus of the Year'.

Broadcast

In August 2001, the series was pre-sold to ABC Kids and

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Home media

United Kingdom

The show was released on DVD in the United Kingdom by Metrodome Distribution. * ''Busy Buses'' – 17 February 2003 * ''Sammy's Midnight Adventure'' – 11 July 2005 * ''Sammy in the Snow'' – 17 October 2005 * ''Sammy Wins The Day'' – 7 November 2005

Australia

The series was released in Australia on DVD by ABC Video/Roadshow. * ''The Series: 26 Episodes.'' – 2 May 2003 * ''Series 2: 13 Episodes.'' – 7 October 2005 * ''Colin Needs a Bath'' * ''Sammy's New Friend'' * ''Sammy the Acrobatic Bus'' * ''Sammy's Midnight Adventure''

Reception

Vicki Englund of ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' praised the television series, writing, "The computer animation is effective and is combined with static cut-out figures of the humans."

References

{{Authority control 2000s British animated television series 2000s British children's television series British children's animated adventure television series British children's animated comedy television series British computer-animated television series British preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series 2003 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings