In the first episode of the series, the school holidays have arrived. Many of the drivers at East Yorkshire Motor Services HQ in Hull are away, resulting in a shortage of drivers for the busy Saturday shift. Controller Simon juggles timetables and drivers to keep the services going. However, he hits a problem – with no driver available for one of the rural routes, it may have to be cancelled. For the communities out in the sticks, these routes are a lifeline, so Simon calls in ex-bank manager Rod to cover. Rod normally drives buses along Hull’s city routes, but armed with a hand-drawn map and a bus full of ‘the village people,’ he heads into the great unknown. As the signposts disappear and the roads become more winding and narrow, Rod gets lost, and the locals are not happy. Back in Hull, a busy Saturday lunchtime is in full swing. Queues are forming, the pressure is on and controller Simon has to call into action East Yorkshire’s secret weapon: customer relations supervisor Brian. Brian’s job is to bust the queues and get all of the buses out on time. But even with Brian charging around at top speed, will the buses run to schedule?
In this episode, Hull’s bus drivers are facing the hottest summer for seven years, and in the control room in East Yorkshire Motor Services the heat is on as they struggle to cope with a breakdown in the air-conditioning unit. Worse still, a persistent leaking pipe has brought down ceiling tiles in both East Yorkshire’s office and the neighbouring office belonging to fellow bus company Stagecoach. With no let-up in the heat wave and with the plumbers struggling to fix the problem, East Yorkshire’s control room becomes so subtropical that controller Simon Cowie thinks it can only be a matter of time before they get some serious rain. An air-conditioning breakdown is not the only thing getting Hull’s busmen hot under the collar – a forthcoming charity football match between the busmen of East Yorkshire and their neighbours and rivals Stagecoach puts company pride at stake. Ex-infantryman Jamie is leading the charge for East Yorkshire and has assembled a crack unit of footballers including their secret weapon – customer services representative, Brian. Will Brian’s enthusiasm be enough to win the battle of the bus companies on the football pitch? In Scarborough, things are also hotting up in the battle of the open-top bus tours as East Yorkshire’s seafront supervisor Paul and rival Shoreline Sun cruisers boss Tom go head to head in preparation for the busiest weekend of the year – August bank holiday. Paul thinks that one of the Shoreline drivers is spending 90 seconds too long at the bus stops and potentially poaching his passengers. As temperatures soar and the crowds flock to the beaches, open-top warfare breaks out.
At the start of the school term, every bus in East Yorkshire Motor Services’ fleet is needed on the road for the school runs. Chief engineer Derek Bradley is off on his annual holiday to Italy while the rest of the teamwork around the clock to get things ready. As soon as Derek boards his coach, things start to go wrong. Two buses fail to start, one has a broken window and the engineers suddenly have their work cut out. The Scarborough team also have every available bus out on the road for the start of school term. With so many vehicles deployed, it is not long before the Fast Action Response Team of engineers – for which the drivers have come up with an affectionate and amusing acronym – are called out to deal with a malfunctioning bus. Back in Hull, the situation goes from bad to worse with another broken-down bus to contend with. Roadworks also cause unexpected delays. The controllers are desperate for more buses for the all-important afternoon school pick-ups and the situation reaches boiling point. As passengers begin to complain, boss Peter Shipp calls a crisis meeting with his senior. The team are short on solutions and with chief engineer Derek still on holiday, all eyes are on Peter. Buying new buses could save the day, but with an average of £3 million annually already spent on the fleet, finding the cash for more vehicles is a big ask. Despite the everyday pressures of keeping services running to time, Scarborough’s cheerful bus drivers always find time for charity. James and Steve are going head-to-head in a sponsored eating challenge to raise cash for a local hospice. The two men face the infamous “slider geddon” challenge – a mammoth twelve burgers and a pound of fries each washed down with a milkshake in just forty minutes. Have the intrepid drivers bitten off more than they can chew?
Following a difficult start to the school term, East Yorkshire Motor Services boss Peter Shipp has spent more than £500,000 on five new buses for his fleet - but is now lacking drivers. One candidate hoping to join the ranks is 51-year-old Richard Trevilcook, who has been unemployed since being made redundant from a highly-paid communications job two years ago. Plus, there is drama at the depot when a runaway bus crashes into one of the new vehicles, while 11 of the fleet are out of action for repair or servicing at the Scarborough site
A disagreement over pay reaches a crisis point and the drivers' union has to decide whether to accept a revised deal, with industrial action on the cards if it's rejected. Meanwhile, everyone pulls together to host the annual Big Bus Day in Hull and EYMS boss Peter Shipp lines up an appearance at the event by one of London's new Routemasters, but has trouble trying to keep the secret under wraps.
Problems arise for depot manager Ken Sims when he discovers planned roadworks by the council are on a longer stretch than he thought, and the road has been closed two-and-a-half hours earlier than expected. Things get worse when a protest march blocks the city centre and prevents buses from reaching the station. Meanwhile in Scarborough, seafront supervisor Paul Fryatt prepares to welcome a 15-strong hen party to one of his open-top bus services
As the new university term begins in Hull, East Yorkshire Motor Services lays on special night services for the students - and the drivers reflect on the good and bad points of ferrying them round, with freshers' week pushing even the most experienced to the limit. In Scarborough, tempers fray when unannounced building work begins in the control room, while Mark Dolby and Simon Maughan carry out routine checks on the rural routes - and get a lot more than they bargained for while checking one passenger's ticket
East Yorkshire Motor Services and chief engineer Derek are up for a prestigious award, Brian pulls out all the stops when the circus comes to Hull, and in Scarborough Paul is hanging up his seafront supervisor's jacket and planning to go out with a bang.
