Timothy Spall's "wonderful" British drama is being removed from BBC iPlayer very soon

A "wonderful" British drama starring Timothy Spall will be leaving BBC iPlayer soon. Released back in 2011, The Last Bus features Spall as a widower who makes a long journey to England from Scotland to scatter his late wife's ashes.

However, it's not an easy journey and along the way, he encounters several adventures, which draws the attention of the media and the general public.

Alongside Spall, the cast also includes Boiling Point's Lauryn Ajufo, Game of Thrones' Nathanael Saleh, Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan and Peep Show's Tom Basden.

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The film was directed by Gillies MacKinnon, who'd previously directed A Simple Twist of Fate, The Escapist and episodes of Castle in the Sky.

The Last Bus is only available on iPlayer for the next 28 days before it is gone from the platform, though it is also available on Amazon Prime UK.

Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the film didn't receive a high critical score, instead receiving 50%, though the audience score was much higher at 68%.

On IMDb, one user described it as a "feel-good movie", adding: "Any movie that brings tears to my eys [sic] is worth watching. It's a simple and harmless film with a wonderful soul at its heart."

Meanwhile, someone else called the film "a beautiful, emotional journey" and had high praise for Spall's acting, saying that he was "perfectly cast".

A few critical reviews were positive, with Common Sense Media writing that the premise was "tender" and "heart-warming", while The Sunday Independent Ireland simply said: "A gentle and bittersweet watch."

Related: Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall's "fantastic" British drama is now trending on Netflix

The film also featured music from Scottish musician Caitlin Agnew, who was 16 when her songs 'I Wanna' and 'Don't Want to Go Home' were selected by the director to appear in the film.

According to the BBC, Agnew's grandfather got chatting to MacKinnon and he showed him her music, which he said "really embraced the soul of the film".

He explained: "I listened and I just loved these songs. The emotion really embraced the soul of the film. I sent them down to our editor and she loved the songs and she put them into the film."

The Last Bus is available to watch on iPlayer until 9 December.

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