User Reviews

Stan has arranged to pick up his Aunt Maud from the station in his bus, much to the chagrin of Blakey. Upon her arrival, the family are horrified to see that she has brought her Great Dane dog Marcus along with her.

At bedtime, Maud insists that Marcus must sleep in the front room as he wont settle otherwise, which meets with displeasure from Stan as that was where he was supposed to be sleeping ( he gave up his bed for Maud ). Mum then suggests that Olive sleep in with her whilst Stan shares with Arthur...

Maud is played by Betty Hare, the real life sister of Doris Hare, who replaced Cicely Courtneidge as Mum in this series. Marcus was Anna Karen's dog in real life. He appeared in two more episodes - 'On The Make' from series three and 'The Anniversary' from series four. It is not one of the better episodes of 'On The Buses', with the laughs being few and far between. It is not until the bedroom scenes do any real laughs occur.

Funniest bit - Mum watching with horrified fascination Olive applying curlers and face cream before going to bed. ''Do you wear all that in front of Arthur?'' asks mum. ''Yes'' replies Olive. ''Blimey, no wonder I'm not a grandmother!'' says mum to herself.

One of the best 'On The Buses' episodes.

Stan has strayed from his normal bus route to collect Aunt Maud ( Betty Hare ), who is coming to stay with the Butler's. She brings with her a huge Danish wolfhound called Marcus, which Jack is terrified of. Her presence means a change in the sleeping arrangements - with Aunt Maud in Stan's bed, Olive has to sleep with Mum, leaving poor Stan to kip with Arthur. Marcus has got the sitting room to himself.

So begins a sleepless night for all concerned...

Betty Hare was Doris' real-life sister, and this is apparent the moment she first appears. The two women are even identically dressed. Maud would be referred to from time to time in the show; for instance, in 'Foggy Night', the reason Mum, Olive and Arthur are out late is because they have been to see Aunt Maud.

One odd thing though - when Olive meets Blakey at the depot, she says that Stan calls one of the Inspectors 'Hitler'. She must have have known it was Blakey himself he was referring to, as she once worked there ( albeit briefly ) as a clippie ( see 'Olive Takes A Trip' from Season 1 ).

Funniest moment - Stan and Arthur trying to get comfortable in bed. Poor Stan screams as his bare feet make contact with one of Olive's curlers!