Benidorm puts other comedies in the shade

CHANNEL HOPPING:

A COUPLE of swingers doing the rounds, a heavyweight pub quiz champ on tour and a rough northern family chavving it up round the pool with Bacardi Breezers and double cheeseburgers for seconds.

It might sound more like “On holiday with the Hattons” (surely a few lines worth a snort if that was ever made) but when it comes to belly laughs, “Benidorm” leaves its rivals on the canvas.

With language so colourful it has an all-over permatan, the near-the-knuckle humour on the Costas can be below the belt, but at least it follows the golden rule of comedy — it’s funny. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a series of repeats as much as the recent Monday night re-runs on ITV4 — and that’s only because anything that can be classed as chuckle-vision these days is so rare.

And the good news is there’s an hour-long special topping the bill this Christmas . . . sure to be a contender for best comedy at whatever awards ceremony lies in wait at the end of the year.

Sadly, Benidorm’s rivals for the comedy crown are merely going through the motions.

The powder-puff “My Family” immediately springs to mind, but then it seems writers threw in the comedy towel long ago and have been living off past glories ever since.

The Alan Partridge repeats on Dave are a classic example. “Gavin and Stacey” is another. With the notable exception of “Benidorm”, the last time there was anything laugh-out-loud funny on the box that wasn’t a repeat or a smug panel show was probably “The Royle Family”.

In the halcyon days, “Only Fools and Horses” and “Rising Damp” proved the writers could knock out brilliant sit-coms to devastating effect.

I can’t ever envisage a time when we’ll all be tuning into UK Gold for vintage episodes of “Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show”.

“Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em” was on Gold the other day and “Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads” the night after.

And while on the subject of comedy, RIP Norman Wisdom, the slapstick genius who sadly died this week.


Soap roar: Just when it seemed virtually impossible for Corrie’s runt of the Platt litter to look any more weasel-like, David sprouts some whiskers. Only two more things to grow then.


Soap bore: A new broom is supposed to sweep clean. But Kat and Alfie’s return to the Vic following Peggy’s departure means “EastEnders” has gone right back to Square one.