The film followed the extended family of "The General", played by Barker, as they went on an eventful picnic in the Devon countryside.
The film is notable for being completely free of speech, with the score by Ronnie Hazlehurst and various sound effects in their place.
The humour is instead entirely visual, and relies on comic stereotypes (the old randy general, the busty girl, etc.)
A limited VHS release of By The Sea and The Picnic was available in 1990 and deleted in 1994.
The Picnic and By The Sea, were both released on DVD on 24 September 2012 as part of The Two Ronnies: Complete Collection.