Benidorm (British TV series)

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 until 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.

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 titled Benidorm, and began airing on 1 February 2007.

[8] After cast member Geoffrey Hutchings' sudden death in July 2010 from a suspected viral infection, the Christmas special was forced to be heavily rewritten, though did broadcast on 26 December 2010.

[11] Litten then planned to conclude the show at the end of the fourth series, though high demands from viewers resulted in him rapidly reversing his decision.

[22] Series 1 introduced the main characters: the Garvey family, which included parents Mick (Steve Pemberton) and Janice (Siobhan Finneran), teenage daughter Chantelle (Hannah Hobley) and eight-year-old son Michael (Oliver Stokes); Janice's mother Madge (Sheila Reid); Jacqueline (Janine Duvitski) and Donald Stewart (Kenny Ireland); Kate (Abigail Cruttenden) and Martin Weedon (Nicholas Burns); Geoff Maltby (Johnny Vegas), who calls himself "The Oracle", and his mother Noreen (Elsie Kelly); Gavin Ramsbottom (Hugh Sachs) and Troy Ganatra (Paul Bazely) the Solana staff: barman Mateo Castellanos (Jake Canuso) and manageress Janey Yorke (Crissy Rock).

[9] Furthermore, Wardley reprised her role as Kelly, with Wendy Richard making a guest appearance in one episode as her mother, a wheelchair-riding love rival for Madge; other guest stars included Margi Clarke as Dorothy, Gavin's estranged mother and Elliott Jordan portrayed Jack, a British bar-owner with whom Janice found temptation.

[23] A number of new characters were introduced for series 4, including Liam Conroy (Adam Gillen), the son of Les, the latter now also a cast regular; Sam Wood (Shelley Longworth) and her good friend Natalie Jones (Kathryn Drysdale); Kenneth Du Beke (Tony Maudsley), a hairdresser at Gavin and Troy's hair salon in Derbyshire, taking Troy's place on holiday with Gavin; and Pauline Maltby (Selina Griffiths), the daughter of Noreen on holiday with her in the place of Geoff.

[23] The Garvey family (now only including Pemberton, Finneran, Reid and Stokes), Donald and Jacqueline (Ireland and Duvitski), Mateo (Canuso), Janey (Rock) returned from series 3.

[23] There was also a variety of guest appearances, including Neil Fitzmaurice as "Lucky Kev", Cilla Black as herself, Bananarama as themselves, Denise Welch as "Scary Mary", Melvyn Hayes as "Mr Pink" and Ian Reddington as Johnny Neptune.

The Dykes, a lively family from Watford, consist of father Clive (Perry Benson), his wife Tonya (Hannah Waddingham), their son Tiger (Danny Walters) and their daughter Bianca (Bel Powley).

The Garveys, Donald and Jacqueline, Mateo, Lesley, Liam, Kenneth and Joyce all returned, whilst Nicholas Burns reprised his role as Martin Weedon after a five-year absence, alongside his friends on a stag holiday.

Leslie Jordan guest starred as Buck A. Roo for two episodes, playing an attorney who revealed the Garveys had inherited $30 million before whisking them off to Las Vegas.

[23] In series 8, Julie Graham, Steve Edge, Bobby Knutt, Josh Bolt and Honor Kneafsey joined the cast as new family, the Dawsons.

The tour began in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England at the Theatre Royal on 7 September 2018[2] Two hundred and thirty-five shows were scheduled to take place in various locations throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Jake Canuso (pictured here in 2015) portrayed the role of Mateo Castellanos. He was the only cast member to appear in every episode
Fifth series cast