Nuts in May 

A middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them.

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh (deviser)

Stars:

Roger Sloman, Alison Steadman, Anthony O'Donnell

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Roger Sloman	...	Keith Pratt
Alison Steadman	...	Candice Marie
Anthony O'Donnell	...	Ray
Sheila Kelley	...	Honky
Stephen Bill	...	Finger
Richenda Carey	...	Miss Beale
Eric Allan	...	Quarryman
Matthew Guinness	...	Farmer
Sally Watts	...	Farm Girl
Richard Ireson	...	Policeman

Storyline

Their Morris packed to the gills, the punctilious Keith and the more spontaneous Candice-Marie arrive at a Dorset campground where they pay £10 in advance for ten nights. It's peaceful: they visit Corfe Castle, eat vegetarian food, and go in search of raw milk. Then a fellow with a loud radio pitches his tent near theirs: Keith is beside himself and it doesn't help when Candice-Marie decides to befriend the young man. Things get worse when a couple arrive on a motorcycle, make noisy love in their tent, and then start an illegal campfire. It's too much for Keith: he loses it. Will our middle-class couple find a bucolic corner, or are they doomed to brawl with the noisy and unwashed?

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Plot Keywords:

couple | tent | dorset | love | vegetarian | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 January 1976 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Corfe Castle, Dorset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The registration number of the Morris Minor has the letters "BY". Really used by the Croydon vehicle registration office in the days before regionalisation.

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Quotes

[Finger and Honky are making a lot noise in their tent. Keith gets up in the middle of the night to tell them to shut up]
Keith: This is a tent! *I* am in a tent! The walls of a tent are thin. I can hear everything you're saying. Now BE QUIET!
Finger: Get back to bed!
Keith: And you get back to your tenements!

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Connections

Featured in All About 'Abigail's Party' (2007)

User Reviews

Mike Leigh is a genius, "I want to see the sea, she said"

Lucas and Speilberg take note this is how you make great films....

that's how I feel about this made for TV film, from the seventies, if you are a fan of Independent cinema, then I urge you to go out and buy this film,. Mike Leigh, along with Ken Loach are arguably Britains' best film makers, and although not to everyones taste, you can only enjoy films such as Nuts in May, how can a film about a strict vegetarian couple on a camping trip can be so good? I hear you ask , trust me it is. I don't want to spoil this for anyone who has not seen it, but you will almost wet yourself with laughter. Special mention must go to Roger Sloman, who is one of the most underrated British actors ever. He has turned out in mostly the same role as a 'typical b*****d' such as Keith Pratt, and the TV man/holiday maker in Neils bedroom in the Young Ones. Along with Alison Steadman ( another Mike Leigh regular )

the performances are fantastic, watch out for the scene where they 'force' fellow camper Ray to join in their sing-a-long, Unforgettable * * * * *