David Tennant and Rosamund Pike have spoken a little about
their characters Doug and Abi in the new BBC Films feature What We Did On Our Holiday. The bittersweet comedy movie has been
written and directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, the creators of the award
winning BBC sitcom Outnumbered and
stars a wealth of UK talent, including Billy Connolly, Ben Miller, Celia Imrie
and Amelia Bullmore. The cast also includes some rising talent in the form of
Harriet Turnbull, Bobby Smalldridge and Emilia Jones as the McLeod children.
David Tennant plays Doug McLeod, a Scotsman now living in
London, whose marriage is on the rocks. Nonetheless he finds himself on a trip
back home for his father’s 75th birthday with his argumentative wife and their three children in tow. The couple’s
attempts to conceal their personal difficulties from their extended family over
the course of the holiday are inadvertently, and often hilariously, thwarted by
the children, in spite of their best efforts to ‘help’.
David says that Doug was a rewarding character to play. “Now
that they are apart, Abi, being the more together of the two, has gone off and
got herself a new life and a new boss while Doug is coping less well. He is wallowing
a bit in his misery.”
He adds, “[They] have
a stab at unity for the sake of Doug’s father, who is very fond of Abi, and wants
to see her more than most of the people who are invited to his 75th birthday
party. Because he is unwell, they decide to keep their separation a secret and
that puts a bit of a strain on things, to say the least.”
Rosamund Pike says that What
We Did On Our Holiday is “...a movie where there is a lot of childish
behaviour going on — and not all of it from the children. The adults are
behaving in a very immature fashion for much of it.” She says that Doug and Abi’s
rows are furious and very funny. “It is like a dumb-show at times. There are
various shots that Andy and Guy composed, one of us in the rain and you can’t
really hear what we are saying but just watching the jabbing fists and the
gesticulation shows you how absurd we are.”
She adds that there is a ferocious side to Abi, especially
where her children are concerned, that particularly comes out when social
worker Agnes Chisholm shows up.
“When this woman, played by Celia Imrie, arrives on the
scene and wilfully seems to look for a dark meaning beneath quite innocent
facts, Abi finds her incredibly threatening,” she says, “and she is pretty rude
to her. Her animal side comes up and a tigress comes out.”
However, Abi is still able to recognise that, in spite of
their difficulties, she and Doug still have a profound relationship. “They are
not getting back together but he is the father of her children, whatever their
personal differences, and she has the grace to eventually admit that he is a
very good and loving father.”
Already being hailed by film critics as one of the must-see
UK films of 2014, What We Did On Our
Holiday will be released in cinemas on Friday 26th September.
What We Did On Our Holiday is produced by BBC Films and Origin Pictures with backing from Creative Scotland.
For more information about the film please visit our website.
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