Johnny Vegas

Derren Litten's comedy showcases a certain kind of lobster-coloured all-Englishness that can only be found abroad nowadays. It's broad rather than acute, and occasionally hidebound (an Indian trainee doctor from Varanesi who speaks no English? No way), but a familiar cast, including Johnny Vegas and Steve Pemberton, help make for viewing as comfy as a carton of chips. This week, Madge runs into her marginally less horrible, estranged daughter Valda, while Robin Askwith, he of the Confessions of . . . series, crops up as a typically conniving cockney chancer.

This series should be sponsored by Visit Britain, because it's doing a brilliant job of persuading viewers they'd be better off holidaying at home.

Tonight there's a visit to Peacock Island - the last unspoiled bit of Benidorm - but Mel has big plans to change all that. And look out again for a brilliant guest starring role from Tim Healy, while Geoff The Oracle (Johnny Vegas) discovers the perils of online dating.

Subtle it ain't - the gags are flagged up so clearly you could probably see them from space - but Benidorm definitely has its attractions.

Benidorm - Series 3, Episode 1 Preview

Ever since Johnny Vegas confessed to a lively online role-playing life, in which he entered chatrooms under the pseudonym "Bashful", you get the feeling script-writers have been looking to explore the notion again. Tonight, they finally do, as Geoff goes online dating, while his mother canvasses opinions as to whether or not he might be gay. A strange mixture of home truths and Carry On humour, Benidorm feels high-quality and low-rent, sometimes at the same time. Tim Healy's guest spot is certainly one to remember.

Usually, I don't mind things that are a little down-market. You know: chips, tower blocks, Total Wipeout, that kind of stuff. It can be quite amusing. But Benidorm is at least one rung too far down the ladder. Not the place, which I went to once for a holiday (ironic of course) - it was rather charming. But the ITV sitcom, which is back, inexplicably, for a third series. Well, there is an explanation of course: millions of people watch it. The mystery is why they do.

"My mind and body have been finely tuned," Johnny Vegas's character tells Mateo, the Spanish hotel bar man, threateningly, by the pool.

"Finely chewed by what?" asks Mateo. Tuned, chewed, a misunderstanding joke, do you see? There's a sunburn joke, too. And a bit of light innuendo:

"Another 10 minutes and you would have missed Madge's big entrance."

"I don't like the sound of that."

I think it was innuendo, anyway. Anyway, it's all so terribly limp and clunky and obvious. The arrival of Sheridan Smith as Martin's new friend Brandy is a little injection of life. But it will take more than one busty loud-mouthed scouser to save Benidorm. Not that it needs to be saved, unfortunately; millions will continue to watch no doubt, and more series will be commissioned.

Benidorm - Series 3, Episode 1 Review

Nothing disappoints a British holidaymaker quite like a successful trip away; at least that's the comedy premise that's explored in the third season of this comedy. After the chaos surrounding their previous trip, we join our roster of British stereotypes gathering on a non-airconditioned coach in order to enjoy their compensatory free holiday. We then watch as this gift horse is looked in the mouth: it's like The Royle Family, but with sunburn. The amiable Geoff (Johnny Vegas) is an enjoyable feature, the incredibly caustic Madge (Sheila Reid) a riotously unlovable grandma.

Benidorm - Series 3, Episode 1 Review

Forget your sun, sea and sex - it's more like sunburn, swearing and mobility scooters. All the familiar faces are back for a third series at the Solana resort in Benidorm. After the rooftop hijack they've been offered a free vacation as compensation, which explains why they just can't keep away from this all-inclusive holiday hell.

Episodes are now an hour long but, apart from that, little has changed except that timid Martin (Nicholas Burns) has finally split from his wife. He turns up with a new companion, a sexy Scouser named Brandy (Sheridan Smith). He insists they're just friends, although she seems too far out of his league to even be a distant acquaintance.

The Oracle (Johnny Vegas) is being driven mad by poolside puzzlers and Mel is opening a new store where his bad luck with electricity looks set to continue.

Derren Litten's Costa-del-Hell comedy returns for a third series. It's the same gallery of grotesques who gather once again by the pool of the all-inclusive hotel Solana: the fractious Garvey family; corpulent swingers Donald and Jacqueline; and drip Martin, who has mislaid his wife and arrives instead with a brassy blonde called Brandy (guest star Sheridan Smith) in tow. By now we're used to Benidorm's broad comic brush. The characters don't just argue, they hurl curses at each other. If someone has an out-of-date mobile phone, it's not just a few years old but a big 1980s brick. When a character gets comically sunburnt, it's because he was wearing a silver suit and riding a 12ft-high bicycle. Nothing happens by halves. But although the comic timing is laboured, the re-creation of hellishness can be spot on. The scene where The Oracle (Johnny Vegas) is driven mad by his mum's trivia-quiz ignorance is inspired, and Geoffrey Hutchings' scooter mogul Mel is superbly awful.

tvBite has always found Sheridan Smith much warmer and funnier doing interviews for any of her low-rent shows (Royle Family apart) than she actually is on screen. So it's a mixed blessing to see her parachuted in to the first ep of the third series of ITV's flagship (only) sitcom. She donates a wiggle and a rasping scouse accent to the hour-long special, which adheres to the sitcom formula in its strictest sense. It's very much a series of set pieces linked by location. Some of the set pieces make you want to crush the writers' knuckles with a hammer (an out-of-control toy hovercraft chasing a Spanish waiter); while others are undeniably amusing (Johnny Vegas's character getting irritated by the stupid crossword answers). The good moments (mainly coming from the impressive cast) make you realise that there's something in there that makes it all worthwhile.

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