Benidorm is a British sitcom written and created by Derren Litten and produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV that aired for ten series from 1 February 2007 to 2 May 2018. The series features an ensemble cast of holiday makers and staff at the Solana all-inclusive hotel in Benidorm, Spain, over the course of a week each year.
Plot
The series follows holidaymakers who spend a week at the Solana Resort Benidorm, Spain. It is generally the same people who go at the same time of year, usually by coincidence. As people say, those who come to Benidorm "can never stay away" or "never come back". Some higher-class people who come to the Solana are not satisfied with its facilities or the holidaymakers who go there, though others enjoy themselves, mostly due to the fact that it is all-inclusive.
The first four series largely concentrated on Solana guests, with staff acting as background characters. Following the introduction of Sherrie Hewson as new manager Joyce Temple Savage in series five and the return of Adam Gillen as Liam Conroy, previously a guest, as the hotel maintenance man, staff characters became more prominent, with more storylines revolving around the running of the hotel. This gave creator Derren Litten and his co-writers more flexibility in terms of storylines, as they were not necessarily required to reintroduce the same guests in each series.
Cast and characters
Production
Development In 2006, Derren Litten pitched a new comedy that he had devised for ITV, focusing on an all-inclusive holiday resort, which was later confirmed to be a six-episode series titled Benidorm. The first episode was broadcast on 1 February 2007, opening with 5.86 million viewers and a 26% share between 10pm and 10.30pm. A second series was commissioned, which began airing on 28 March 2008, attracting 7.14 million viewers and an average audience share of 28% between 9pm and 9.30pm, maintaining its strength against competitors. The programme went on to win Best Comedy Programme at the National Television Awards in 2008.
Benidorm returned for an hour-long special on 31 May 2009, serving as a bridge between the second and third series. The third series began broadcasting on 2 October that same year, in a new 45-minute episode format. In 2010, it was announced that the programme would return for a Christmas special later that year before returning for a fourth series in 2011. After cast member Geoffrey Hutchings' sudden death in July 2010 from a suspected viral infection, the Christmas special was heavily rewritten to write his character out. It aired on 26 December 2010 with an audience of 7.41 million.
The fourth series began on 25 February 2011, introducing a new set of characters to fill the void of several cast departures. Litten opted against writing any new episodes beyond the fourth series, commenting, "I'm really looking forward to Series 4 although it is with mixed emotions because, for me, it is the end of my Benidorm journey. I can't begin to tell you what this show means to me, it has changed my life in so many ways. Not least the amazing friends I have made along the way. I won't be writing any more episodes of Benidorm, for me the story of the Garveys and all of the other characters I created ends at Episode 6 of Series 4."derrenlittens.blogspot.co.uk However, Litten reversed his decision and agreed to write a fifth series after cast member Steve Pemberton agreed to contribute to three episodes.
The programme continued to gain popularity, winning Most Popular Comedy Programme at the 2011 National Television Awards. At the time of the fourth series' broadcast, Metro reported that the interest of holidays to Benidorm itself had increased by 159%. The fifth series began broadcasting on 24 February 2012, attracting 7.72 million viewers. As part of Sport Relief 2012, Pemberton and fellow series regulars Jake Canuso, Tony Maudsley, Adam Gillen and Oliver Stokes appeared in a sketch as their characters, situating them taking part in a fictional audition for ITV talent competition Britain's Got Talent. The fifth series concluded on 6 April 2012 to an audience of 6.37 million.
In April 2013, it was confirmed that the show had been renewed for a further sixth and seventh series, the former of which had begun filming. The seven-episode sixth series began broadcasting on 2 January 2014, having had a year-long hiatus. In 2014 and 2015, Benidorm won consecutive Best Comedy Show accolades at the TV Choice Awards. In February 2015, it was recommissioned for an eighth series, which began on 11 January 2016. Whilst the eighth series was being broadcast, a ninth series was ordered by ITV, which began filming the following month. In August 2017, ITV dismissed speculation that the show would be ending, citing that the tenth series had been confirmed shortly after the ninth series' premiere. An ITV spokesperson stated that future commissioning for additional series would be determined around the time that the tenth series came to airing.
In July 2018, it was confirmed that Benidorm would not be returning for an eleventh series, just weeks after the tenth series had concluded. Ratings had steadily declined throughout the last few series, with the events of series 10 acting as a conclusion to the characters' journeys. Litten went on to create a new sitcom for BBC One, entitled Scarborough, which featured a variety of former Benidorm cast members.
Casting
The Garvey family were introduced in the first series, consisting of parents Mick (Steve Pemberton) and Janice (Siobhan Finneran), teenage daughter Chantelle (Hannah Hobley) and eight-year-old son Michael (Oliver Stokes), with Sheila Reid portraying Janice's mother Madge. Janine Duvitski and Kenny Ireland portrayed the roles of Jacqueline and Donald Stewart, a couple of swingers, whereas Abigail Cruttenden and Nicholas Burns played middle-class couple Kate and Martin Weedon, who were experiencing a nightmare holiday to Benidorm. Comedian Johnny Vegas was cast as pub quiz champion Geoff Maltby, who calls himself "The Oracle",ITV James Martin's Saturday Morning: Johnny Vegas' real name, two wives, and 'hard battle' Manchester Evening News, 28 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022 holidaying with his mother Noreen (Elsie Kelly). Hugh Sachs and Paul Bazely completed the original cast of holidaymakers, portraying gay couple Gavin Ramsbottom and Troy Ganatra. Two members of Solana staff were also introduced in barman Mateo Castellanos (Jake Canuso) and hotel manageress Janey Yorke (Crissy Rock).
Geoffrey Hutchings joined the cast for the second series as Mel Harvey, a multi-millionaire businessman who is in a relationship with, and subsequently marries, Madge. Soap opera actresses Wendy Richard and Margi Clarke both made individual guest appearances in the second series as Sylvia, a wheelchair-riding love rival for Madge, and Dorothy, the estranged mother of Gavin, respectively. Sheridan Smith portrayed the role of Brandy in the third series, a loud-mouthed Scouser introduced as a love interest for Martin. Emily Atack had been on standby to take over the role in the event of Smith being unavailable for filming. Series 3 also saw Tim Healy make his first appearance as Les/Lesley Conroy, originally a transvestite blind date for Geoff, who would go on to establish himself as a series regular. Healy reflected on being recruited by Litten for the programme after they met at the TV Quick Awards in 2007: "Derren was in the bar afterwards so I shook his hand and said, 'Well done, man, it's really funny.' I said, 'I'd love to do one.' So he said, 'What would you like to play?' By this time I'd had a few beers so I said, 'Something people would never expect me to play... I tell you what, a transvestite that kills somebody! Anyway six months later a script arrived and I did that one scene with Johnny Vegas [a hilarious blind date] and they asked me to come back and be a regular. So it was me own fault." Other notable guest stars throughout the third series included Robin Askwith playing Gary Snelling, a conman and a thief who was revealed as Brandy's lover, and Una Stubbs, who made an appearance in the final episode as Martin's overbearing mother Diana.
For the Christmas special in 2010, Louie Spence appeared as Marvin, a friend of Donald and Jacqueline who was also a fellow swinger. Spence was reportedly keen to appear in the show, with a source stating, "When Louie was offered a part, he jumped at the chance. He's already learning lines. He's taking it very seriously, as you'd expect from La Spence." Brian Murphy was also briefly introduced as Clive Mitchell, a potential love interest for Noreen; both actors did not reprise their roles for the fourth series. Additionally, singers Su Pollard and Roy Wood appeared as fictional versions of themselves as entertainment acts for the Benidorm Palace, though only Pollard provided an acting entity. Shakin' Stevens had initially been attached to appear in the Christmas special as the closing act though pulled out days before filming due to exhaustion, with Wood stepping in as his replacement at short notice.
Geoffrey Hutchings died in July 2010, resulting in the Christmas special being rewritten to write his character out, in which Mel dies off-screen. In April 2010, it was announced that Johnny Vegas had been axed ahead of the fourth series in order to pave the way for a new group of characters to be introduced. Later that month, Hannah Hobley confirmed that she would not reprise her role of Chantelle Garvey following Vegas' departure, commenting, "The decision was made some time ago that the story between my character 'Telle and The Oracle, played by my co-star and friend Johnny Vegas, had reached a natural conclusion, as the two unlikely lovers walked off hand in hand to the strains of Spanish Eyes at the end of series three." Abigail Cruttenden and Nicholas Burns were similarly written out of the show. Due to his filming schedule for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Paul Bazely was unable to commit to the fourth series, though did make a brief appearance in the series' final episode.
Adam Gillen joined the cast in the fourth series as Liam Conroy, the son of Les, as the latter character was developed further as he was promoted as a series regular. Shelley Longworth and Kathryn Drysdale were introduced as friends Sam Wood and Natalie Jones, respectively. Longworth had been amongst several actresses who had auditioned for the role and discovered she had gained the part whilst attending a music festival; she travelled to Spain within a week to begin filming. Drysdale left her role in the BBC sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps in order to appear in Benidorm. To fill the void of Bazely's absence, Tony Maudsley was cast as Kenneth Du Beke, a hairdresser at Gavin and Troy's hair salon in Derbyshire, taking Troy's place on holiday with Gavin. Having previously auditioned for the role of Mick Garvey in 2006, Maudsley described Kenneth as "a larger-than-life, colourful character. He has bagged himself a free holiday and is determined to make the most of it. He loves the free cocktails and buffet. Kenneth just wants to have a good time, much to the annoyance of Gavin. He gets involved in a lot of the big comedy storylines." Additionally, Selina Griffiths made her debut in the fourth series as Pauline Maltby, a recovering alcoholic who is the daughter of Noreen, on holiday with her in the place of Geoff. Singer Cilla Black and pop group Bananarama made notable guest appearances during the fourth series.