What We Did on Our Holiday

Not to be confused with What We Did on Our Holidays.

What We Did on Our Holiday
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin
Written by	Andy Hamilton Guy Jenkin
Produced by	Norman Merry Suzanne Reid Ed Rubin David M Thompson Dan Winch
Starring	David Tennant Rosamund Pike Billy Connolly
Cinematography	Martin Hawkins
Edited by	Steve Tempia Mark Williams
Music by	Alex Heffes
Production companies	BBC Films Creative Scotland LipSync Productions Origin Pictures Ingenious Media Independent
Distributed by	Lionsgate (United Kingdom/United States)
Release date	26 September 2014 (2014-09-26)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£3.5 million
Box office	$10.7 million

What We Did on Our Holiday is a 2014 British black comedy-drama film written and directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. It was inspired by, but not related to, the BBC show Outnumbered. The film stars David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, and Billy Connolly.

What We Did on Our Holiday was released in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2014, by Lionsgate.

Plot

Doug McLeod (David Tennant) and his wife Abi (Rosamund Pike) unite following a tense separation to travel to the Scottish Highlands for Doug's father Gordie's (Billy Connolly) 75th birthday. Gordie has terminal cancer so Doug's brother, millionaire Gavin McLeod (Ben Miller) has arranged a lavish party for him, inviting all the important people in the neighbourhood. Despite difficulties getting their three children, Lottie (Emilia Jones), Mickey (Bobby Smalldridge), and Jess (Harriet Turnbull), to leave the house, they hit the road, but find it congested and they are forced to stop overnight.

Lottie expresses her troubles with trusting her parents following their recent separation and lies to each other; it is revealed that Doug had an affair, which led to Abi moving out and taking legal proceedings against him. They are only travelling to the Highlands together to appear as a couple for Gordie, not wanting to upset him in his final months.

On arriving at Gavin's mansion, a tense rivalry becomes apparent between Doug and Gavin. Gordie, despite being extremely ill, is fun-loving and encourages his grandchildren, particularly Lottie, to let go of their troubles and enjoy life. While Gavin, Doug, Abi and Gavin's wife Margaret (Amelia Bullmore) make the final arrangements for the party, Gordie takes the three children to the beach. He reveals that he is descended from Vikings, a fact that Mickey in particular is excited about; he reveals his desire to be buried "the Viking way" by being cremated and sent out to sea. He believes this will stop arguments between Doug and Gavin. Later, while Lottie, Mickey and Jess are playing, Gordie dies peacefully.

Lottie returns to the house to tell the adults, leaving her siblings with Gordie's body. However, when she arrives she sees them all arguing, Abi telling Doug she is seeing someone else and will be moving the children to Newcastle, and Gavin with his family over what Gordie wants for his birthday, Lottie returns to the beach without telling them. Fulfilling Gordie's last wish, the three children create an improvised raft and using petrol from Gordie's pickup, send him out to sea aflame, "Viking" style.

The children return home and tell the adults what has happened. The adults are horrified, and Doug and Gavin head to the beach, where they find Gordie's pick-up truck partially submerged by the high tide; Gavin breaks down in Doug's arms. Abi and Margaret break the news of Gordie's death to the party guests, and word quickly gets out about what the children did. The police arrive to investigate, accompanied by social services worker Agnes Chisholm (Celia Imrie), who interviews the children about their actions, and after speaking with Lottie she contemplates removing them from Doug and Abi's care. The press descends on the house, with Lottie, Jess and Mickey's actions making headlines worldwide.

While using Gavin and Margaret's son Kenneth's (Lewis Davie) computer, Mickey and Jess accidentally stumble upon a video of Gavin's wife Margaret attacking a fellow shopper at a supermarket as a result of depression. Gavin also sees it, having been previously unaware of his wife's issues. After the press paints the children's actions as depraved, Doug and Abi make a statement to the press that what their children did was not malicious, and that they support the children's efforts to honour their grandfather, however misguided it may seem; seeing the support the children receive, Chisholm ends her investigation, leaving the children with their parents.

In the final scene, Gavin and Doug hold a memorial for Gordie at the beach, where the brothers are shown to have buried the hatchet. Abi tells Doug she will not be moving to Newcastle, and the couple decides to divorce civilly, apologising to their children. The film ends with the extended family honouring Gordie on a hill above the beach with some friends, and then the family playfully splashing around at the water's edge on the beach.

Both Rocket Gibraltar (1988) and What We Did on Our Holiday (2014) feature the grandfather's birthday get-together, observing his grown children's foibles "every human being on the planet is ridiculous in his own way", his wish for a Viking funeral "stick me in a burning boat and float me out to sea", a scene where he seems to have died with the grandchildren reviving him, and a finale of them floating his burning body out to sea on a Viking ship unbeknownst to their parents.

Cast

• David Tennant as Doug McLeod
• Rosamund Pike as Abi McLeod
• Billy Connolly as Gordie McLeod
• Celia Imrie as Agnes Chisholm
• Ben Miller as Gavin McLeod
• Emilia Jones as Lottie McLeod
• Amelia Bullmore as Margaret McLeod
• Annette Crosbie as Doreen
• Lewis Davie as Kenneth McLeod
• Ralph Riach as Jimmy Cazzarotto
• Ben Presley as PC McLuhan
• Bobby Smalldridge as Mickey McLeod
• Alexia Barlier as Françoise Dupré
• Ryan Hunter as Frazer
• Harriet Turnbull as Jess Mcleod
• Jake D'Arcy as Smokey

Production

The film was shot on location in Glasgow and the Scottish Highlands between 27 June and 2 August 2013. The beach scenes were filmed at Gairloch. The family home of Gavin McLeod is in Drymen near Loch Lomond. The ostriches farmed by Gordie's friend Doreen are actually located at Blair Drummond Safari Park.

Release

What We Did on Our Holiday was released in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2014 and in the United States as What We Did on Our Vacation on 10 July 2015.

Box office

The film earned $6,390,566 in the United Kingdom and $1,976,185 in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates, totalling $8,366,751 worldwide.

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 73% rating based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's consensus states: "Witty and well-cast, What We Did on Our Holiday injects unlikely laughs into a story dealing with dark, difficult themes." On Metacritic, the film has a 54 out of 100 rating, based on 14 critics.

External links

• Official website
• What We Did on Our Holiday at IMDb
• What We Did on Our Holiday at Box Office Mojo
• What We Did on Our Holiday at Rotten Tomatoes
• What We Did on Our Holiday at Metacritic