BBC Films Cert 12A Director: Guy Jenkin, Andy Hamilton

With a title that conjures up images of primary school, lumpy custard and cold gravy, it seemed reasonable to be a bit wary about what something billed as ‘family comedy’ was going to offer. But there was no need to be nervous – it was a brilliant treat.

At the heart of the film, the brainchild of Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (the men behind the BBC’s hit partially-improvised sitcom “Outnumbered”) are Doug and Abi, played by David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, and their 3 children.

This archetypal urban family are struggling to keep their marriage and happy family pretence together under a barrage of secrets and deceit.

The story flits through the juxtaposing themes of reality and fantasy, peace and chaos, despair and hope – outwardly affluent and inwardly poor. Their life is one of sorrow and side-splittingly funny joy.

The story follows the family’s long trip from chaotic London to serene Scotland for the overbearing 75th Birthday celebrations of Doug’s Dad, organised by Doug’s ‘affluent’ brother Gavin and his wife Mary (Ben Miller and Amelia Bullmore).

They bear all the hallmarks of “Keeping Up Appearances” but are suffering their own inward turmoil, with Mary suffering from depression and their son stifled in his musical ambitions by his overbearing father.

In places, the storyline seems to lose its’ edge, but Billy Connelly, who plays the unwell grandfather delighting in the simple pleasures of fishing, horseracing and admiring the stunning Scottish Highland countryside in which the stage is set, uses his comedy skills to great effect and drags the audience straight back.

The feature is punctured with philosophical one liners guaranteed to make you laugh one moment while provoking genuine tears the next.

The children, played superbly by Harriet Turnbull, Bobby Smalldridge and Emilia Jones, bear the brunt of the web of secrets and family disputes.

In trying to a make sense of the world with the help of their Grandfather, they win the day with their honesty, courage and understanding of the outlook that life is not for thinking – it’s for living.

Billed as a comedy, I wasn’t expecting to need a box of tissues. The heart wrenching twists and turns as the story unfolds to its’ conclusion made me weep.

The beautiful simplicity of the cinematography and the awe inspiring landscape, combined with a whit only the calibre of Billy Connolly and his co-comedians could produce, means this a film you won’t want to miss out on seeing.