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Benidorm, ITV1, Friday 9pm SOMETHING tells me it's a little unfair to have a go at such an easy target as the Brits on holiday in Spain, but I will do anyway.

We've all been there: cheapo holiday in the sun, dodgy shorts and swimwear, all week knocking back the booze, lazing by the pool with like-minded buffoons from all over the North.

As you wander the streets of the Spanish holiday resort you'll see tattooed lager louts in Union Jack shorts (and then there's the blokes), "pubs" called the Queen Vic and The Rovers Return, hotels offering "full English breakfasts", karaoke nights and strip bars. Just like England, but with warm weather. Perfect, then.

Benidorm returned - as most Brits do to it - with a few well-aimed poison arrows and a couple that went wide of the mark.

Johnny Vegas as Lancashire pub quiz champion Geoff is, of course, the main attraction here, but was under-used in this first episode, which focused on the Garveys' return to the Solana all-inclusive hotel complex.

Vegas is there with his mum, some friends, hangers-on and his mates' mother Madge (Elsie Kelly) - who, like many people in real life, uses a mobility scooter to get around though she doesn't need one, and has pulled a bloke who owns five sunbed shops in West Didsbury - and a clutch of friends and relatives, including new baby Coolio.

"I've always dreamed of seeing you in an electric chair Madge, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind," says one of their travelling companions.

Mother's bloke, Mel, wears trunks that leave little to the imagination to most people's disgust - but not mother's.

He attempts to teach Vegas to dive but, predictably enough, the lessons don't go well, though shots of Johnny in swimwear enable the writers to crowbar in the line: "I've got a classic surfer's build, I have . . . just out of season. I've just lost my six-pack . . . everything."

Mel cracks his head on the bottom of the pool and mother announces to Vegas: "You, you fat idiot, you've killed my husband before I've even had chance to marry him."

Meanwhile, one of the kids is choking after guzzling his burger too quickly and posh couple Kate and Martin, who thought they were staying at a boutique out-of-town hotel, are gutted to find themselves with the Brits abroad crew. I know how they feel.

You don't need to do the real thing - just get yourself a six-pack (beer, not stomach) and grab the remote control.

Gavin and Stacey, BBC3 Sunday, 10pm Another comedy in which the star attraction - in this case Rob Brydon - takes a bit of a back seat.

Gavin (Mathew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) are having relationship problems, with the latter having been forced to leave Wales and live with the former's parents in Essex.

Mick (Larry Lamb) is gonna be on the news having discovered a body and there's a party planned to celebrate. Only thing is, he's off screen after a couple of seconds, but the group go ahead and get rubbered anyway. Smithy (James Corden) and Nessa (Ruth Jones) are the real stars, though. Despite not liking each other, they're having a baby together and their night out playing 10-pin bowling with the rowing Gav and Stacey inevitably ends up with a KFC followed by sex.

It's pretty low-key, rather than in-your-face laugh-a-minute stuff, and all the better for it.

Like most stuff involving Rob Brydon, this is a gentle slow-burner that gradually drags you in and eventually has you warming to the characters and the situations they find themselves in, and hoping for happy endings.

Clearly, Gav and Stacey will end up with their own home in Wales, and Smithy and Nessa will come to terms with their situation and enjoy a life sharing takeaways with their new baby. Sweet.

Funny Moment Peter Kay's funniest moment of last year was repeated on Catherine Tate.

Generally, Tate's a bit hit and miss, but when the writing's on form, as it was here, she's hilarious.

Kay, effectively made up to look like a 70-year-old, returns from a trip to the loo to announce: "I feel like I've lost a stone. It nearly flushed itself."

He and Tate then launch into a tear-inducing rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Much better than all that "Am ah bovvered" stuff.

9:36am Thursday 3rd April 2008

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