Play for Today (TV Series) Our Day Out (1978) User Reviews

A well balanced powerful TV play

[caitlin_online · 8/10 · 9 January 2005]

Ignore the rating IMDb is currently showing for this drama - a baffling 5.4. The system IMDb uses must be seriously flawed (And I suspect looking at the spread of votes grossly in favour of US voters) as if you drill down you'll in fact discover the mean vote is 7.3, and the median 9.

Our Day Out is in many ways a simple drama, full of clever lines, and some hysterically funny scenes with the students of the "Progress Class" clashing with the Welsh countryside, and a zoo that doesn't know what hit it….

But there also are some powerful moments amongst the carousing and glee of a 'special needs' class on a day outing to Wales.

The acting is uniformly good from the child cast, and the editing and direction are again apparently simple but highly effective.

The comedy and drama are well balanced, and though it does feel very much like a made for TV play, without great character development in any of its child cast in the short hour available, it is a pleasure to watch, and highlights some powerful issues around the neglect of working class kids along the way.

Interesting and very watchable but a little too long

[d_m_s · 7/10 · 8 May 2019]

Lovely looking film due to it's very naturalistic cinematography, the style of which I am very fond of. Some of the acting from the kids is a bit dodgy but its documentary-esque feel makes it very watchable, engaging and enlightening.

I'm not usually keen on 'messages' in films as I tend to find them heavy handed and unnecessary but I felt the messages here were delivered quite well.

Only downside is it feels a little too long.

Not brilliant but natural and engaging

[bob the moo · 20 October 2008]

A coach load of school children from an inner-city Liverpool secondary school set out on a day trip to Wales with three members of staff as supervisions. At the last minute the sterner Mr Briggs joins his more relaxed colleagues on the coach, specifically to keep an eye on the doings of who he sees as his more "liberal" colleagues. A stop off at the zoo is only the first event to convince him that he is correct in his harsher approach to teaching but, as the day wears on, a clear split occurs in the staff and pupils where extremes are worn away and challenged.

For some reason this film was screened again recently as part of proving that Liverpool is a city of culture for 2008 (Really? By showing a 30 year old film?) and it gave me the chance to watch it. The film benefits from a real sense of reality and naturalism that means anyone with a memory of school trips will instantly recognise the characters within the staff and the pupils. This good start continues with a light-hearted but engaging clash between the various styles of teaching, not in an obvious or heavy-handed way but in a way that fits the "play for today" ideal. This will not please everyone though and I did look for it to become more cutting and insightful as it went on. It didn't get to where I would have liked but it was still interesting as a snapshot of a day out and different characters.

The acting is mostly good, in particular Armstrong as the stern teacher. Heywood and the other staff members have less to do in regards material but still turn in solid characters. The pupils also vary in material but each and every one of them manages to deliver what the material requires and it is these performances that really give the film a natural and engaging feel. The direction is good for what it is and makes the best of location, including the coach trip part itself. It is never brilliant and does feel like it didn't go anywhere but Our Day Out gets back on feeling natural and having an interesting clash of characters, even if the narrative doesn't ever get as clever or sharp as one would have liked – which I suppose is part of the series rather than a specific fault of this film.

A straight average:

[johnnyboyz · 6/10 · 21 June 2001]

This film, or maybe it isn't..... is wired. A class from a school in Liverpool set off for a school trip to a castle in Wales. 4 teachers and a class seems normal and this film is basically about an every day school trip kids getting told off on the bus all seems normal. But when they arrive in Wales (after stopping off at a service station) it all turns wired, the kids....'revolt' and the teachers take sides with them. The only 'sane' one left is Mr. Briggs (Alun Armstrong: Get Carter and A Bridge too far) who decided to go. The class and the teachers go to the castle as planned, but Mrs. Kay. decides to alter the plan, and instead of going back to school, she pity's them and lets them have a day out. Mr. Briggs is furious as he learns that that the children and the teachers join forces to have 'Our Day Out'