On BBC2 now "A Day Out"

[Psychler]

On BBC 2 now [Sunday, 6.05pm] "A Day Out"  Alan Bennett play about a yorkshire cycling club day out.

[Domestique]

I just switched it on and caught a glimpse of the an old CTC lapel badge 

[JStone]

"Grown men, gadding off on bikes - and on a Sunday!"

[her_welshness]

Thanks for the heads-up   Those bikes are cracking  

[rogerzilla]

It's pretty dull stuff until the last minute, when it grabs you by the bollocks heartstrings and turns you inside out.

Trivia: director Stephen Frears is name-checked in the song "Lily The Pink" for having big ears.  He once directed certain members of the band (Scaffold), who never forgave him for cocking up the job.

[delthebike]

Worth watching for the "You're such a frightful tart Florence!" line.

If you missed it, tough. It's not available on iplayer.

[Really Ancien]

Probably doesn't make a lot of sense unless you know something of the background of the Wellsian belief in the idea of progress, wouldn't Brian Glover's character have been in the Clarion though?

Damon.

[John Henry]

I rather liked this charming little film. Not much has changed, in some ways - a diverse group of people brought together by cycling, using their bikes to get some fresh air and escape the daily grind, with varying amounts of support from their non-cycling relatives.

I did have to assure my wife that the young chap copping a feel of a young lady on a club ride was the only unrealistic moment. This has never happened to me on a CTC club ride.  If it had, I might do more of them. 

[Regulator]

Sorry - but anything by Alan Bennett makes me puke...

His stuff is so twee and saccharine its nauseating.

[her_welshness]

Sorry - but anything by Alan Bennett makes me puke...

His stuff is so twee and saccharine its nauseating.

But its not. For example, watch Patricia Routledge in Talking Heads. It was a story of a woman who was an interfering busybody who through her own (sometimes disastorous) choices transforms herself into this gregarious and charming woman. Utterly compelling and inspiring stuff - I urge you to watch it. 

[clarion]

I love this play.  It's brilliantly observed, and, even without the coda, it is poignant (not saccharin).

Alan Bennett describes with an expert eye a world I know well, and love (and hate).  He is one of the best chroniclers of untold history we have.

[Really Ancien]

Sorry - but anything by Alan Bennett makes me puke...

His stuff is so twee and saccharine its nauseating.

Clarion is spot on. It is as you describe if you're not familiar enough with the cultural references to see the barbs. So much of Northern English humour is dependent on waiting for a fool to reveal themselves, so the punchline is often a raised eyebrow. The matriarchal society of Yorkshire, especially, forms a lot of the humour. Victoria Wood, Peter Tinniswood and I'd say Nick Park are other close observers of the Northern scene.

Damon.

[clarion]

Yes.  That's absolutely it.  Those three are close, but Bennett is supreme.  His effortless understatement, laden with meaning, is breathtakingly simple and complex at the same time.  When he's worked with actors who really understand him, like Patricia Routledge or Thora Hird, the end result is the nice balance of the tragic and comic that constitutes life.

[Moloko]

Very poignant and sobering ending to it.
A lot of talented actors crammed into it too.
The overly pompous Shorter complaining about the "shocking" state of the cow field. 
And "BBW"
661 Shorter: What's that? (referring to BBW)

Bowler explains to him: Bum before wicket.

661 Shorter: I'll not have that kind of language.