Big Dead Bus

Big Dead Bus is the pilot episode of the British animated television series Ghost Town. Loosely based on series creator BaconMatthew's 1995 animated short Dead Serious, the episode was written by BaconMatthew and premiered on Dessin on October 31, 2015. In the episode, Steve Langdon dies after being hit by a bus and wakes up in a society of ghosts, befriending Tug, who is from the caveman era.

The episode received positive reviews and was viewed by 0.25 million people on its premiere.

Plot
The episode opens on November 7, 2015 at 8:32 AM. Steve Langdon is heading to his job as a sales accountant, and as he crosses the street he becomes distracted by a loud dog and is hit by a bus. Steve wakes up shortly after and goes to confront the bus driver, only for him to realise he is floating. He puts his arm through the bus and realises he has died and become a ghost. As he looks up, he sees several other ghosts walking past and driving vehicles on the same streets he once lived in.

Steve is totally overwhelmed and becomes frightened when approached by another ghost, but realises she is friendly. The ghost's name is Emily, who is one of several local guides employed to welcome the newly deceased to the Spirit World, where ghosts live in civility in the same world as humans (unbeknownst to humans, of course). Emily gives Steve a tour of the local area.

Following the tour, Emily goes off to help another recently deceased person. Steve still feels overwhelmed and decides to visit his apartment. He enters and is shocked to find a man inside, watching a Spirit World TV next to Steve's TV in the living world. Steve confronts the man for breaking into his house, but the man informs him this is his house, at least in the spirit world. The man introduces himself as Tug, who died over 1 million years ago and has watched society progress as a ghost since then. Steve finds himself very interested by this and starts to ask Tug questions about human history.

Later, Steve and Tug are eating at a diner. Steve is still asking Tug questions but Tug interrupts him to ask about Steve's life. We flash back to Steve's life showing a typical working day, where he finds himself bored in his mundane workplace and annoyed by his colleagues. Steve quips that his life is not quite as interesting.

That night, Steve and Tug return to Steve's apartment, where they watch some of the Spirit World's television, which is disrupted by Steve's living landlord removing some of Steve's furniture from the apartment, including a picture of his deceased parents. Steve mentions that he wants to find his parents in the Spirit World, and the episode ends with Tug vowing to help him.

Production
The episode began production after the series was greenlit in late 2013. The plot for the episode draws loosely from the plot of Dead Serious, the short the series is based on, although there are numerous differences; most notably the character of Tug is not present and instead Steve befriends three troublesome brothers. The original short also only contained BaconMatthew and one other cast member, whereas a larger cast was assembled for the full series.

BaconMatthew wrote the episode with the short in mind and it follows the same basic storyline of Steve dying, being overwhelmed by the Spirit World before making a friend(s). David Herman was cast as Steve soon after the first episode was written, and BaconMatthew voiced Tug instead. Herman and BaconMatthew both also voiced various minor characters in the episode, with Lauren Tom playing Emily the tour guide.

Broadcast and reception
The episode was originally scheduled to premiere on Dessin on November 13, 2015. However, it was later decided to air the episode on October 31 as part of Dessin Spookfest instead, due to its supernatural themes. It premiered at 7:30pm and was viewed by 0.25 million people, making it Dessin's highest rated broadcast of the week.

The episode received fairly positive reviews from critics, who praised it as an effective introduction to the series but noted its lack of action compared to later episodes. The episode holds a 7.9/10 rating on IMDb based on 1,047 user ratings.

Cast

 * David Herman as Steve Langdon, TV Presenter #1, Ghost Driver
 * BaconMatthew as Tug, Steve's Colleague #1, TV Presenter #2
 * Lauren Tom as Emily
 * Lori Alan as Steve's Colleague #2, Diner Waitress
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Recently Deceased, Diner Patron
 * JiIlian Bell as TV Presenter #3
 * Jeff Bennett as Steve's Colleague #3