Channel 5's new series, Benidorm Is Murder, revives the familiar charm of the beloved comedy drama Benidorm, infusing it with a weekly homicide for a "package holiday" mystery. The show, which earned a five-star review, aims to recapture the essence of the original series, which ran for 11 years and featured characters like Madge, Mateo, Kenneth, Donald, and Jacqueline.
Writer Ian Jarvis has blended the recognizable atmosphere of Benidorm's tourist scene—complete with high-rise hotels, sunburnt holidaymakers, and mobility scooter-riding seniors—with a "tongue-in-cheek ingredient": a weekly murder. This approach has been described as the package holiday equivalent of Death In Paradise.
Similar attempts at combining holiday settings with crime, such as Sky's A Town Called Malice and Channel 5's The Good Ship Murder, have been noted, but Benidorm Is Murder's strength lies in its familiarity and affectionate homage to the original. The series includes classic Benidorm elements like karaoke, indifferent hotel staff, sticky cocktails, queues for sunbeds, and neon-lit bars.
The premiere episode opened with a tribute act performing for patrons at a Happy Hour, featuring a parody of the band Take That. The central murder mystery involved one of the tribute band members being found dead in the pool, with another band member becoming the prime suspect. The crime was noted to have occurred within a one-minute timeframe.
John Hannah stars as Dennis, a former police officer operating a basement bar. He is joined by Carolina Becquer as Rosa, an out-of-work actress who becomes his self-appointed sidekick. Rosa's fascination with detective shows like Midsomer Murders and Murder, She Wrote aids the investigative process. The series also features a local police officer, Sergeant Hernandez, played by Ariadna Cabrol, who is depicted as Dennis's on-off lover and a foil to his cynicism.
Benidorm Is Murder is structured as a six-part series, with the reviewer expressing a desire for a second season.
In separate television news, Harriet Walter discovered on the program Who Do You Think You Are? that her mother, Xandra, had worked in Naval Intelligence and was involved in planning the 1944 D-Day landings, a fact unknown to Walter until the program.
