The opening credits were revised several times during the successful run of this sparky Liverpool-set sitcom.
Season 1 is lost, but the episodes opened with the girls running to catch a bus at Liverpool's Pier Head bus station. A line of Merseyside PTE buses is seen, mostly Metro-Cammell bodied Leyland Atlanteans; the bus they get onto is rear-entrance and not seen clearly, although it is viewed from directly overhead as it leaves the station.
In season two Nerys Hughes replaced Pauline Collins, and the show was now in colour:
The credits were again revised in season five when Elizabeth Estenson replaced Polly James, this time including a clearer view of Merseyside PTE 1399 (DKC399L), a Leyland Atlantean AN68/Alexander:
Episode 2.02: The Good Samaritans
A Polly James-era episode has the girls trying to board Merseyside PTE A262 (VKB895), a 1957 AEC Regent V/Metro-Cammell in heavy rain. There's the briefest of sightings of a Leyland Panther passing in the other direction as eventually the bus is full and pulls away without them:
Episode 2.03: The Holiday Fund
In this episode involving an auction and a chamber pot the girls succeed in boarding A262 (VKB895), brandishing said chamber pot!
Episode 3.06: Birds and Bottom Drawers
Not much to see, but I believe this is a Leyland Atlantean:
Episode 4.02: Friends at First Sight
I believe this is a Leyland Atlantean, but it appears to be in National Bus Company green with the Merseyside logo, and since the registration plate is not visible on the back, I'm a little mystified as to an id:
Episode 4.08: Love Is
A passing Scania BR111MH/MCW of Merseyside PTE, one of a batch of 20 new in 1972:
Episode 4.13: And Then There Was One...
A plot that includes getting a bride to the church by bus. In this case it's Merseyside PTE 1392 (DKC392L), a 1973 Leyland Atlantean AN68/Alexander, and inevitably the bride's dress gets caught in the door:
Other Atlanteans appear in the sequence:
Episode 5.03: You've Got to Laugh
Sandra and Carol are waiting for a bus. A Merseyside PTE Bristol VRTSL/East Lancs passes in the distance:
When their bus arrives it's a well-loaded Leyland Atlantean/Alexander:
Episode 5.04: Love is a Many Stupid Thing
A protest meeting with passing Merseyside PTE Atlanteans:
Episode 6.03: Honey
Passengers board a Merseyside PTE Scania Metropolitan BR111DH/MCW.
Merseyside Metropolitan 4040 (RKA 440N) appeared regularly, but can't be identified in the above scene. One such episode is 'Somewhere to Live....Somewhere to Love'(Episode 9.05). Elizabeth Estenson's character Carol's father was a bus driver (Mr Boswell, played by Ray Dunbobbin). He was often to be seen following his daughter and her date, in his bus complete with passengers......in one later episode he decides to give his passengers a break from the boring routine.
Writer Carla Lane used the same plot for 'Bread' (a different Boswell family) but this time it was a hand cart (the father was a road sweeper). (thanks Stuart P and Jim Gorman) CCR notes
"The MPTE uniform = worn by Mr Boswell reputedly reappeared as a costume in a BBC wartime drama where the old 'barbed wire' MPTE logo on the lapel took had a more sinister interpretation!"
