Our Day Out
File:Our Day Out coach.png
Directed by	Pedr James
Produced by	David Rose
Written by	Willy Russell
Starring	Jean Heywood Alun Armstrong Elizabeth Estensen Lennox Greaves Robert Gillespie George Malpas Jill Richards Iona Banks Peter Tilbury
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English language

Our Day Out is a television play about deprived children from Liverpool in the United Kingdom. It was written by Willy Russell and first aired on 28 December 1977, at 9pm on BBC2.^[1] It was later converted into a full length stage musical.

Origins and development [link]

The play "Our Day Out" was commissioned by the BBC and first broadcast in December 1977^[1] as part of the BBC's Play of the Week series. Due to popular demand, it was shown again in February 1978 as part of the BBC's Play For Today series,^[2] and was also re-broadcast in 1979 and again in August 1990, and on BBC4 in 2008.

Willy Russell had taught at Dingle Vale School, one of the locations used in the film, and called on his experiences of school trips—as a teacher and as a child—when writing the screenplay, which he finished in five days. The film was shot on 16mm film by a first-time director in three weeks, and features a largely untrained cast.^[3]

The original television version was developed into a musical for the stage with songs by Willy Russell, Chris Mellor, and Bob Eaton. This production, directed by Bob Eaton, was first performed at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool in 1983.

Plot [link]

The film centres on a school trip to Conwy Castle in North Wales. Mrs. Kay teaches a remedial class for illiterate children, called the "Progress Class". The whole class - along with Digga and Reilly, the slightly older class bullies who used to be in the Progress Class - are taken on a coach trip. At the last minute, the Headmaster commissions Mr. Briggs, the authoritarian Deputy Headmaster, to supervise the trip.

On the way to the Castle, the coach stops at a petrol station with a snack shop, where the students take advantage of the storekeepers' confusion to shoplift sweets and snacks, unbeknownst to the teachers supervising. It makes a second stop at a zoo, where the students enjoy the animals so much that they try to steal most of them. The zoo attendant discovers this just in time before the coach pulls out, and makes them return the animals.

When the coach finally reaches the Castle, the students race around exploring the grounds, cliffs and beach. Soon it's time to leave, but one of the best-behaved students, Carol, is missing. A search ensues and Mr. Briggs finally finds Carol, who is depressed because she doesn't want to return to the bad conditions at her home. She wants a better life and wishes she lived in a nicer area, like that which surrounds the Castle. She becomes so upset that she threatens to jump off the cliff. Mr. Briggs, who up till this point has acted like a harsh disciplinarian, policing the students' bad behavior and expressing doubts that they should even be allowed to have an outing, shows a more understanding side as he convinces Carol not to jump and to rejoin the rest of the group. The coach makes one more stop at a fairground where the students have some more fun before returning home.

An even softer side of Mr. Briggs is observed, as he joins the students on some of the rides. He even goes as far as wearing a "Kiss Me Quick" hat, and joins in with the sing-song on the journey home, all of which is photographed by Mrs. Kay. She comments on how she never knew he had a softer side, and that he certainly wouldn't be able to get away from the fact now she had evidence. Being a keen DIY photographer, he offers to develop the photos, and even convert them into slides so he can do a talk for the students. This is the perfect escape for Mr. Briggs. Not wanting to let anyone see his other side, once he returns to his car, he unravels the undeveloped films, exposing them to daylight and so ruining them, with a clear explanation of them "not coming out" - a risk sometimes associated with film-based photography.

Along the way, two young teachers, Susan and Colin, who are helping Mrs. Kay supervise, must also deal with the fact that Digga and Reilly have a crush on Susan while two older girl students have a crush on Colin. Susan and Colin solve their problem by subtly suggesting that Digga and Reilly should turn their attentions to the two girls.

Analysis [link]

The story is partly a celebration of the highs and lows of growing up, being teenagers and free from school. By the end, it becomes darker and more unexpected. These no-hopers from the Liverpool backstreets are reminded of their depressing current situation and even bleaker future leading to the stark realisation that a day out is about as much as they can expect. It is similar to Russell's later work Blood Brothers in dealing with the life that the working class children have.

A contrast is also drawn between the characters of Mrs. Kay, the lenient Progress Class teacher, and Mr. Briggs, the strict disciplinarian who joins the trip at the last minute. At first Mr. Briggs seems to be a harsh, critical authority figure intent on ruining the students' fun, while Mrs. Kay is more relaxed and kind. But as the plot develops, it appears that Mr. Briggs pushes the students to meet higher standards because he believes they can do better for themselves if they make an effort, and that he has more faith in their abilities than does Mrs. Kay.

Differences from play [link]

The most noticeable difference from the play was the omission of the characters 'John' and 'Mac', who, in the play, are the shop owners who get robbed. Other than this, the film has no considerable differences from the play.

Notes [link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Date Confusion: The Willy Russell website gives the date of the original film as 1976, stating that it was repeated six weeks later as part of the Play For Today series. However, the repeat date is documented as 7th February 1978, and the Play of the Week series in which the film was originally shown did not begin until September 1977, so a first broadcast in December 1977 seems more likely.
2. ^ "Our Day Out". ClassicUKTV.co.uk. https://classicuktv.co.uk/inc/sdetail/165. Retrieved 2008-08-02. 
3. ^ "Willy Russell: Our Day Out - the film". WillyRussell.com. https://www.willyrussell.com/dayout.html. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 

See also [link]

• Our Day Out musical

External links [link]

• Our Day Out at the Internet Movie Database
• Willy Russell's Our Day Out website
• The Mausoleum Club Play For Today information