The story gradually moves away from the concept of holiday hell and becomes a rites of passage tale. The central character, Richard, meets up with an array of other teenagers, including a local cad, a fiery Dutch girl and a gorgeous young woman who instantly ignites his imagination. There's a touching realism and charm about these awkward relationships, largely inspired by the fact that Palin actually met and fell in love with his future wife while on holiday with his parents. "You had to do something like that," he recalled, "There was nothing else to do".

After a suitably languid opening the film picks up pace, following Richard's exploits as he discovers love, lust and the joy of jazz cafés. The humour is more Alan Bennett than Monty Python, although Palin wonderfully captures the absurdity of the English at play. Ironically, however, the film was slightly overlooked in the UK but won awards and critical acclaim when screened in the US.

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Originally part of BBC Two's Screen Two strand, which spawned classics such as Truly, Madly, Deeply and The Firm, it's no surprise that the production standards are impeccable and overflowing with perceptive period detail. Produced by Innes Lloyd, one of the BBC's most respected programme makers, it was penned by Palin after he had honed his writing skills on films as varied as Life of Brian (1979) and The Missionary (1981).

When interviewing the writer, Jeremy Paxman watched an excerpt, after which he roared with laughter. "Those miserable holidays," he muttered. "Ahh, but we've all been through them," observed Palin, which is exactly why East of Ipswich works so well.

Gavin Collinson