The Double Deckers

Here Come the Double Deckers!
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	United Kingdom United States
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Release
Original network	ABC BBC One
Original release	First aired: 12 September 1970 (US) 1 January 1971 (UK) – Last aired: 3 September 1972 (US) 30 April 1971 (UK)

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 junk yard.

A co-production between British independent film company Century Films and the television division of 20th Century Fox, it was a children's adventure sitcom. The shows (without adverts) are about 22 minutes in length.

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 shoot 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 a 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.

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Wikipedia