Help! 1980s film about school trip - not "Our Day Out"

[AmyAmy]

Help! Have been trying to remember the name of a play/film about a 1980s school day trip where the main focus of the film is on a normally harsh male teacher coming out of his shell and bonding with the pupils when everyone finds out more about him and his life. At the end of the film he reverts back to his bad old self as I recall.



I know it sounds v boring it was well done from what I remember and I would love to see it again but none of my friends know what I'm talking about!!



Have been looking at "our day out" but am fairly sure this isn't it as it doesn't mention the story about the teacher in any of the reviews and it sounds too jolly!

[oxfam1uk]

This sounds exactly like "Our day out" to me.



Written by Willy Russell, and very funny. I saw this 30 years ago, and much of it has stuck in my mind. Such as the kids nicking animals from the zoo and smuggling them onto the coach.

And the big dramatic cliffhanger (literally !) near the end.



Typical sentimental Scouse humour, but great entertainment !

[Andy H]

This might not be much help, but I have a vague memory of a CH4 (I think) one-off filmed play about a school. It was about the time of (and had a similar style to) 'Ptang yang kipperbang'.

The only bit I can clearly remember is the teacher telling one of his boys to butter the bread (for the trip) 'right to the edge, Wilkins!'



There's a possibilty it might have starred Michael Williams.

[LocalHero]

The play with Michael Williams that you're thinking about is likely to be Angel Voices which was shown as part of the Screen Two season on BBC2.



It's about a group of choirboys who go on their annual trip to Blackpool - a period piece set in the 60s.

[Andy H]

That sounds like it, LocalHero! Funnily enough, I kept getting 'angel' in my head, but dismissed it. Thanks for putting me out of my misery. I wonder if this helps the OP?

[LocalHero]

I think the OP is looking for Our Day Out. The webpages I could find about it talk about the disciplinarian Deputy Head going with them at the last minute and there's a picture on this site of him sitting in the back of the bus with a silly hat on, so how much more "coming out of your shell" can you get!



Lots of pictures on this page. The picture at the top looks like every school trip I ever went on!

[AmyAmy]

Thanks for all your replies. I will watch Our Day Out as that seems to be the one.



Amy

[oxfam1uk]

Yes, "Our day out" ended like this:

  Spoiler:

S P O I L E R



After an emotional confrontation, at the end of which the teacher saves the life of one of his pupils, we see him relax and have some fun after this cathartic experience. This is conveyed by a series of photographs.



Next we see the teacher tearing up the photos, throwing them away, and resuming "business as usual". He knows that it would be impossible to do his job in a tough school if he gained a reputation for being jolly and friendly with the pupils.

Quite true, of course, and very perceptive writing.