The Last Bus (TV series)

The Last Bus is a British science fiction adventure series created by Paul Neafcy and released on Netflix. Its ten episodes debuted on 1 April 2022. The story centres on a group of children who are the only humans left after a scientist’s invention—orbs that can vaporise everyone—wipes out the planet’s population.

The plot follows a mismatched collection of schoolchildren who unite to confront a new machine intelligence. The cast includes Moosa Mostafa as Nasir “Nas” Roman, a gifted 12-year-old obsessed with Dalton Monkhouse; Phoebe De Silva as Sophie Roman, Nas’s older sister who looks after him; Daniel Frogson as Thomas “Tom” Little, a lonely boy whose mother dislikes him and whose father died when he was ten; Lauryn Ajufo as Misha Morris, Sophie’s rebellious best friend; Marlie Morrelle as Chelsea, a rule-following perfectionist; Nathanael Saleh as Joshua “Josh” Collins, a goofy boy concerned for his sick mother; and Carys John as Bethan Conner, a 12-year-old who loves songs and is Josh’s best friend. Curtis Kantsa plays Danny Adeyemi, a bully who befriends Tom. Robert Sheehan appears as Dalton Monkhouse, the genius scientist whose Genie Orbs placed everyone in stasis. Tom Basden plays Mr. Short, a teacher at Braelawn Academy, and Lara McDonnell plays Lucy Monkhouse, Dalton’s 16-year-old daughter he abandoned.

Pre-production began in August 2020. Filming started by September 2020 in Portishead, with additional work at Redcliffe Caves in Bristol, The Bottle Yard Studios, and other South West England locations. Filming at Clifton Down began in February 2021. Braelawn Academy was created from three schools: Writhlington School, Nailsea School, and Badminton School. Other filming sites included The Eden Project, Cheddar Gorge, the Forest of Dean, Wookey Hole Caves, and amusement parks in Brean. On 4 March 2022, Netflix released an official trailer and confirmed the 1 April 2022 premiere date.

The series received generally positive reviews, praised for its style, story, casting, musical score, screenplay, and emotional weight, though opinions were divided on the acting, characters, and comparisons to *Stranger Things*. Despite a cliffhanger in the final episode, the show was never renewed and lacks a satisfying conclusion.