What We Did on Our Holiday, the comedy-drama starring David Tennant and Ben Miller, has arrived on Lionsgate+ in the UK, giving subscribers a fresh chance to catch a film that critics called ‘very impressive and likable’ on its original release.
Directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, the film follows estranged couple Doug (Tennant) and Abi (Rosamund Pike) as they attempt to conceal their impending divorce while travelling to the Scottish Highlands with their three children to celebrate Doug’s father’s 75th birthday. Wikipedia records that the film was released in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2014 by Lionsgate, making this streaming addition a chance for those who missed it first time around to finally catch up.
From Outnumbered to the big screen: the story behind What We Did on Our Holiday
Hamilton and Jenkin drew inspiration from their hit comedy series Outnumbered when developing the film, but they were clear from the outset that they wanted a wider canvas. ‘The nature of a sitcom is that things go back to how things started,’ Jenkin told the BBC. ‘I guess that we wanted the scope to have a story where extraordinary changes happen.’
Hamilton was equally direct about the emotional stakes they were chasing. ‘We also wanted to write about a family in genuine peril,’ he said. ‘We wanted to write something in which what the kids were seeing was much more serious trouble.’
The result is a film that Rotten Tomatoes rates at 73%, with a critics’ consensus that reads: ‘Witty and well-cast, What We Did on Our Holiday injects unlikely laughs into a story dealing with dark, difficult themes.’ Its runtime clocks in at 1 hour and 35 minutes, a compact, self-contained watch that does not overstay its welcome.
What the critics made of What We Did on Our Holiday
The Guardian labelled the film ‘very impressive and likable’, while Birmingham Mail went further, calling it ‘the most enjoyable British film of the year’. Variety suggested it ‘might thrive as a something-for-everyone outing, appealing to family members as age-diverse as the film’s characters’, which is high praise for a comedy navigating some genuinely heavy territory.
Globe and Mail put it plainly: ‘Do we want to spend 95 minutes of our summer holiday watching a film about a young, squabbling, dysfunctional British family on a sham trip? Yes, we do.’ AV Club’s take was perhaps the sharpest: ‘What We Did on Our Holiday sets up a sturdy comic scenario and then proceeds to head in another direction altogether, one that’s nearly impossible to anticipate, making the film much more of a goofy delight than would have seemed likely at the outset.’
Alongside Tennant and Pike, the cast includes 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, and Lewis Davie as Kenneth McLeod.
Where and how to watch What We Did on Our Holiday now
The film is streaming on Lionsgate+, which can be added as a channel to Prime Video. New subscribers get a seven-day free trial, after which the service costs £4.99 per month on top of a Prime Video subscription.
For those who prefer a one-off rental, the film is available for £3.49 from Apple TV, the Sky Store, Rakuten TV, and Prime Video. It can also be purchased outright on Prime Video, the Sky Store, and Rakuten TV for £5.99, or on Apple TV for £6.99, giving unlimited access with no subscription required.
If What We Did on Our Holiday leaves you wanting more from the same lead, Hamlet is currently streaming for free on BBC iPlayer and holds a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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