# Benidorm series 2

The second series of the ITV television series Benidorm, which is a sitcom set in an all-inclusive holiday resort (The Solana) in Benidorm, Spain, began broadcasting on 28 March 2008, consisting of eight episodes. The entire series was directed by Sandy Johnson and written by Derren Litten. Returning from the first series were the Garvey family, consisting of Mick (Steve Pemberton), Janice (Siobhan Finneran), Chantelle (Hannah Hobley), Michael (Oliver Stokes) and Janice's mother Madge Barron (Sheila Reid), whereas Geoffrey Hutchings was introduced as Mel Harvey, Madge's new fiancé; swingers Donald (Kenny Ireland) and Jacqueline Stewart (Janine Duvitski); mother and son Noreen (Elsie Kelly) and Geoff "The Oracle" Maltby (Johnny Vegas); homosexual couple Gavin (Hugh Sachs) and Troy Ramsbottom (Paul Bazely); un-keen couple Kate (Abigail Cruttenden) and Martin Weedon (Nicholas Burns); and Solana staff Mateo Castellanos (Jake Canuso) and manageress Janey York (Crissy Rock).
Overall, the series received an average viewership of 5.98 million, with the opening episode receiving 7.14 million viewers. The series concluded on 16 May 2008, with the series finale attracting 6.32 million viewers. As a result of the second series' finale being left on a cliff hanger, a special was broadcast over a year later – on 31 May 2009, which was produced in order to conclude the second series before the third series was broadcast in late 2009.

## Cast

* Abigail Cruttenden as Kate Weedon
* Nicholas Burns as Martin Weedon
* Elsie Kelly as Noreen Maltby
* Johnny Vegas as Geoff Maltby
* Steve Pemberton as Mick Garvey
* Siobhan Finneran as Janice Garvey
* Sheila Reid as Madge Harvey
* Geoffrey Hutchings as Mel Harvey
* Oliver Stokes as Michael Garvey
* Hannah Hobley as Chantelle Garvey
* Kenny Ireland as Donald Stewart
* Janine Duvitski as Jacqueline Stewart
* Hugh Sachs as Gavin Ramsbottom
* Paul Bazely as Troy Ramsbottom
* Jake Canuso as Mateo Castellanos
* Crissy Rock as Janey York

## Episodes

| No. overall | Episode | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) |
| 7 | "In The Deep End" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 28 March 2008 (2008-03-28) | 7.14 |
| The Garveys and the rest of the holidaymakers return for another week in Benidorm - even with a few new members of the family. These include Madge's new boyfriend Mel (whom she has only known for a few weeks), plus Chantelle's baby son Coolio. Martin and Kate escape the horrors of their last holiday by staying in Altea, but a problem with the room leads to Kate facing her worst nightmare. Later, a diving competition between Mel and Geoff turns into a tragic life-threatening incident. First appearance of Geoffrey Hutchings as Mel. ||||||
| 8 | "The Babysitters" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 4 April 2008 (2008-04-04) | 6.05 |
| Chantelle asks Martin and Kate to babysit Coolio for the night, which ends in him liking Martin. Mel's recovery from the diving accident might not have helped his singing voice when his karaoke at Neptune's goes sour. After the singing, Mel proposes to Madge - and tries to do it romantically, but fails due to his bad back. ||||||
| 9 | "The Arm-Wrestling Competition" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 11 April 2008 (2008-04-11) | 5.59 |
| Madge and Janice's mother-and-daughter relationship turns sour, when she tries to persuade Madge not to marry Mel. Meanwhile, Geoff and his mum Noreen organise their own arm-wrestling competition, with Mick being beaten by Jacqueline due to her "strong wrists". ||||||
| 10 | "The Bullfight" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 18 April 2008 (2008-04-18) | 6.29 |
| The holidaymakers are up for a coach trip to see a free bullfight, but Madge has terrible diarrhoea - making them late by stopping all the time. Just as the holidaymakers thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, Janey tries to flog €200 electric juicers. Unfortunately, she had to sell at least one juicer or the holidaymakers were not allowed to watch the fight. To stop the fuss, Mel agrees to buy one - then realises it was €200. Just after the holidaymakers were allowed to see the bullfight, it doesn't go as planned - it turns out the bull was replaced by a dog with fake horns. During the bullfight, the electric juicer that Mel purchased had blown up. To everyone's shock, Kate announces he is dead - until he wakes up, scaring everybody. Meanwhile at the Solana, Geoff and Chantelle decided not to see the bullfight, and instead have a few burgers on the poolside with each other and baby Coolio. ||||||
| 11 | "The Mother Of The Ex" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 25 April 2008 (2008-04-25) | 5.70 |
| Ex-hotel worker Kelly is back, this time with her cockney mother, Sylvia. As Sylvia's mobility scooter stops working, Mel offers to fix it, but Michael and Chantelle think he is kissing her. Madge then finds out about the incident, not knowing it was a misunderstanding - and begins a poolside showdown with her. Guest starring Niky Wardley and Wendy Richard ||||||
| 12 | "Second Thoughts" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 2 May 2008 (2008-05-02) | 5.21 |
| In their last effort, Mick and Janice both try to persuade Madge not to get married. Meanwhile, Mick has upset Janice, by forgetting it's their 10th wedding anniversary. Janice tries her best to give him hints, but he is still not aware of the occasion. That morning, Janice goes to a local bar for a drink with Madge, and finds out the owner, Jack, has a crush on her. As Janice forgot her money, Jack told Janice she could pay him with a kiss. As her mother leaves, she secretly snogs Jack - but she soon found out that was a mistake, as he quickly became obsessed with her. Later that night in Neptune's, Janice cries and opens up to Mick, finally revealing that it was their anniversary, but still keeping the secret of kissing young bar owner, Jack. Guest starring Niky Wardley and Elliott Jordan ||||||
| 13 | "The Anniversary" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 9 May 2008 (2008-05-09) | 5.57 |
| Things turn serious for Martin - not only has Kate taken all her luggage and disappeared, Gavin's mum uses him as a target for warding off Spanish barman, Mateo. Meanwhile, Gavin spends some quality time with his mum Dorothy, but is upset when she leaves after just one day. Guest starring Margi Clarke ||||||
| 14 | "The Wedding" | Sandy Johnson | Derren Litten | 16 May 2008 (2008-05-16) | 6.32 |
| It's the wedding day, but Mel and Madge's night before was ruined, after they discovered they were on a very inappropriate beach. However as the wedding goes on, interruptions from Jack, Janice's stalker, as well as Martin, and a final disastrous accident ends the ceremony altogether and leaves Mel in ||||||

## Ratings

| Episode | Running time (exc. adverts) | Original air date (United Kingdom) | ITV ratings (millions) | Weekly rank | Rating increase / decrease |
| 1 | 22 minutes | 28 March 2008 | 7.14 | 12 | N/A |
| 2 | 22 minutes | 4 April 2008 | 6.05 | 13 | Decrease |
| 3 | 22 minutes | 11 April 2008 | 5.59 | 17 | Decrease |
| 4 | 22 minutes | 18 April 2008 | 6.29 | 14 | Increase |
| 5 | 22 minutes | 25 April 2008 | 5.70 | 14 | Decrease |
| 6 | 22 minutes | 2 May 2008 | 5.21 | 15 | Decrease |
| 7 | 22 minutes | 9 May 2008 | 5.57 | 15 | Increase |
| 8 | 22 minutes | 16 May 2008 | 6.32 | 10 | Increase |
| Series average | Series average | 2008 | 5.98 | — | — |