- Our Day Out
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This article is about the film. For the play, see Our Day Out (play).
Our Day Out 
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 TilburyRunning time 70 minutes Country 
United KingdomLanguage English 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.
Contents
Origins and development
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
The play 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.
Analysis
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. In 2009, Willy rewrote the musical and updated to a more modern feeling. It premièred in the Royal Court Liverpool.
Musical numbers
Act 1
- We're Goin' Out - Carol and kids
- Mrs Kay's Progress Class - Kids
- Got A Packed Lunch - Kids
- Boss Of The Bus - Ronny and Kids
- Instructions On Enjoyment - Mr Briggs
- We're Off - Kids
- Look At The Dogs/Our day out (The travelling song) - Company
- The Mersey Tunnal - Kids
- It's Borin', Bleeding Borin' - Bored Girls
- Straight Line - Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay
- Penny Chews - Kids
- I'm In Love With Sir - Linda, Jackie and Kids
- Zoo Song - Bored girls and Kids
- Our Day Out - Kids
Act 2
- Castle Song - Mr Briggs, Kids, Linda Jackie and Colin
- Beach Song (short) - Bored girls and Kids
- I Know You Like Her - Susan
- Why Can't It Always Be This Way (Carol's Song) - Carol
- Fairground Song - Kids
- Everywhere We Go - Kids
- Ay Ay Yippee Yippee Ay - Kids
- We Had A Really Great Day Out - Company
- Finale: No One Can Take This Time Away - Company
Differences from play
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
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Our Day Out". ClassicUKTV.co.uk. http://classicuktv.co.uk/inc/sdetail/165. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ "Willy Russell: Our Day Out - the film". WillyRussell.com. http://www.willyrussell.com/dayout.html. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
See also
External links
- Our Day Out at the Internet Movie Database
- Willy Russell's Our Day Out website
- The Mausoleum Club Play For Today information
Alma Mater (1971) · Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971) · Evelyn (1971) · The Foxtrot (1971) · Traitor (1971) · Home (1972) · Horace (1972) · Just Your Luck (1972) · Penda's Fen (1974) · The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil (1974) · 84 Charing Cross Road (1975) · Funny Farm (1975) · Gangsters (1975) · Just Another Saturday (1975) · Rumpole of the Bailey (1975) · Double Dare (1976) · Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976) · Nuts in May (1976) · Abigail's Party (1977) · Spend, Spend, Spend (1977) · Licking Hitler (1978) · Red Shift (1978) · The After-Dinner Joke (1978) · Our Day Out (1978) · Blue Remembered Hills (1979) · Comedians (1979) · Just a Boys' Game (1979) · The Black Stuff (1980) · The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980) · Z for Zachariah (1984) · Brimstone and Treacle (1987, completed 1976) · Scum (1991, completed 1977)Categories:- 1977 television films
- British television films
- English-language films
- Play for Today
- Television shows set in Liverpool
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