From actor to Asda porter, Our Day Out’s Digga is still a star

It’s almost 50 years since he appeared in Willy Russell’s famous BBC play Our Day Out – but Joe Jennings still gets recognised by fans.

Joe, 63, played Digga in Our Day Out, 1977, about a group of troubled school children who go on a trip from Liverpool to Conwy in Wales.

And although he now works as a porter in Asda’s Sefton Park store, people still spot him and know straight away who he is.

He says: “It’s amazing that people still remember me in it from all those years ago.

“Customers often come up to me and say they’ve just watched the film again – it’s become an iconic part of Liverpool history.”

Joe, who’s recently been nominated for an Asda superstar award for his excellent customer service, says everyone still loves the play and likes to talk to him about it.

And he adds: “Willy Russell even shops in our Asda store and we always have a chat.”

Our Day Out has become a cult classic.

Written by Willy Russell, it starred Alun Armstrong and Jean Heywood, alongside other popular actors like Elizabeth Estensen.

Joe was only 16 when it was filmed.

He reveals: “I was still at school and the director of Our Day Out, Pedr James, was going round the schools in Liverpool and Merseyside looking for pupils to play Reilly and Digga. 

“He was in the staffroom at Speke Comprehensive where I went, and he looked out of the window and saw me and my friend, Stephen Caffrey, walking across the car park being a bit cocky and with a bit of attitude and he thought ‘those two just look like Reilly and Digga’!”

 Joe says: “We just got called up in the office and he auditioned us, and a couple of weeks later we were offered the parts. 

“Filming was great. It was a BBC Play for Today and lasts about an hour, but it took three weeks to film. 

“All us kids stayed in hotels in Conwy and we were so looked after. It was such an experience.

“The actor Alun Armstrong was just a lovely fella. He was very strict in the play, but when the director said ‘cut’ he would do Mickey Mouse voices and stuff like that.”

He smiles: “There’s a scene where we steal all these sweets from a shop. At the end of that scene they gave us all the sweets to eat on the bus…”

Although he’s not on the TV screen nowadays, Joe is still every bit a star.

Nominated for an Asda service superstar award for his excellent customer service, store manager Gavin Swan says: “He does a fantastic job. Joe never stops sweeping and picking rubbish up in order to keep our car park clean and tidy, and he gets lots of customer compliments on how well he looks after people. 

“Nothing is too much trouble for him; he’s a really important part of my team.

“Joe is well known in the store and community due to the film he was in when he was younger, so he’s always getting recognised.”

And Joe, who continued acting and appeared in plays and panto across Liverpool after Our Day Out, smiles: “Sometimes I give out autographs too!”

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