TONY ON TV: Channel 5 has just the ticket for bus loves with On The Yorkshire Buses

Then, while you wait for the post to arrive, Channel 5 has just the ticket starting this Friday with ‘On the Yorkshire Buses’ as it stops long enough to let viewers to get on board with the crew of East Yorkshire Motor Services, the country’s biggest family-run bus company.

After Sky 1 took us travelling with ‘East Coast Trains,’ whizzing by Newark and Retford at breakneck speed, and BBC2 gave us a behind-the-scenes look at British Airways, Channel 5 checks out how the team of EYMS have been serving the city of Hull and surrounding towns and villages since 1926.

The eight-week trip sets off this week with open-top bus rivalries breaking out along the sea front in Scarborough, while back at base a shortage of the drivers at the height of the summer holidays causes problems . . . but help is at hand as ex-bank manager Rod volunteers to drive on one of the rural routes armed with a hand-drawn map and a bus full of “village people.”

Yes, you’ve guessed it, Rod gets lost and the locals aren’t happy.

Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t befall passengers and crew as they tread the gangplank and head for their luxury cabin on the Royal Princess as sets out on her maiden voyage in ‘The Cruise Ship’ on ITV1.

This sees the ship making a short Southampton to Guernsey and back trip ahead of a proper cruise to Lisbon, Gibraltar and Barcelona, but this all seems secondary to the crew having to deal with trouble in the laundry that doesn’t seem to be able to cope with the demands of the 3,600 paying passengers.

These reality shows might seem unreal and staged for TV, but that can’t be said of the summer of sport on the box, which seems to have played havoc with the usual schedules.

After four weeks of world-class football in Brazil, in which England seemed to be playing under the radar, there was Andy Murray’s shock exit from Wimbledon, and then the “yellow flash” that was the Tour de France which gave a new focus to Yorkshire as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge gave a right royal send-off to the 198 riders as set out on the first stage from Leeds to Harrogate.

This -- the fourth time the 101st cycle marathon has been held in this country -- also provided some excellent TV coverage nearer home as the race went from York to Sheffield on Sunday at a speed rivalled by some of Mansfield’s cyclists who seem to pedal furiously through shopping centres or along pavements oblivious to slower pedestrians.

For those who want to take the action to a new level, make sure you catch ‘Operation Cloud Lab’ (BBC2, next Wednesday) and join a team of scientists aboard one of the world’s largest airships as it flies coast to coast across the USA checking out the Earth’s most precious and mysterious environment -- the atmosphere -- and where all that rains comes from.