Double Decker Driving School (2015)
This series follows the intensive six-week course that trainee bus drivers must complete in order to get a job driving London's double-decker buses. It is a competitive environment as there are over 20 applicants for each place on the course and only those who pass the 90-minute examination at the end will get the job. The episodes capture the trainees through all of their training as they attempt to complete complicated manoeuvres and emergency stops while safely navigating a ten-ton bus through the crowded streets of London.
Seasons & Episode
In the first episode, a new batch of recruits are starting their six-week course at one of London’s largest double decker driving schools. Single mum and former van driver Claire Carter is hoping that becoming a bus driver will be a smart move - with the steady salary a key motivation for her.
This time, single mum Claire Carter is approaching the end of the course. She nearly quit after an eventful first week, which involved a close call on a zebra crossing and near head-on collision. Claire’s pressing on, determined to show her teenage children that anything is possible. But if she is to be granted her all-important driving test she has to prove she can control not only her ten-tonne vehicle, but her nerves as well.
This time, Manuel Daniel is three weeks into the course and struggling. He’s failed a series of crucial safety exams and his driving isn’t up to the high standard expected. For Manuel becoming a bus driver will mean the world; he will finally be able to afford to move out of his parents’ house and rent a place of his own, with a room for his bus-loving son. He says: “I’m happy with a second chance, I’m not ashamed. I’m looking forward to doing the test and passing. More pressure now.”
This time, newly-married Rodney Willis is preparing for his test. Despite having driven hundreds of cars in his previous job as a car salesman, nothing can prepare Rodney for taking control of a ten-tonne double decker - particularly when he finds himself surrounded with hundreds of marching protesters in the middle of Trafalgar Square. Now he’s ready for his test, but forgetting to indicate at a roundabout sees Rodney lose his cool. A face to face meeting with training manager Geoff White results in Rodney being told to buck up his ideas, or face being thrown off the course.