Benidorm - Series 2

While I didn’t find the first season of Benidorm particularly hilarious, I have to say that by the second series the characters and plots have grown on me – and I actually found myself laughing out loud! The show still revolves around the Garveys, Mick and Janice, with their kids, Telle and Michael, and Janice’s mother Madge. Telle now has a baby boy named Coolio; and Madge brought a new boyfriend, Mel. Of course, there are also the swingers Donald and Jacqueline, the gay couple Gavin and Troy, sad Geoff “The Oracle” Maltby and his mother; reluctantly, Martin and Kate Weedon have returned to the resort as well; and naturally, Mateo still runs the bar, chatting up guests, while Janey runs the entertainment. Throughout, the swingers throw around invitations for threesomes; Gavin and Troy provide a running commentary on the events; 39-year old Geoff pretends he isn’t vacationing with his mother; and Martin keeps failing to please his wife.

One of the early highpoints involves Mel, all tan and a million years old, in his swanky white suit and black shirt singing karaoke with a frightfully high-pitched girlie voice, and then proposing to Madge! Last year Latin Lover Mateo slept with Kate, but this time mumbling dweeb Martin settles the score in an arm-wrestling match – so that he can take his wife triumphantly upstairs. This summer the whole bunch is offered to see a bull fight, but only after they sit through a fruit juicer sales pitch. In the end, the matador turns out to be Mateo, the bull is just a black Labrador retriever, and the juicer explodes in Mel’s face. When Madge sees a picture of Mel with another woman in an electric wheelchair, she jealously gets into a standoff with the other woman – both of them exchanging a vocabulary of curse words that will make your ears tingle. Since Janice is worried about her mother marrying this guy who Madge only met a month ago, and Mick forgets their tenth anniversary, it’s small wonder Janice feels neglected and falls for the advances of a much younger guy. However, the campiest event of the season was definitely Mel and Madge’s wedding – even the vicar was a transvestite! Heehee!