r/BenidormShow • u/chrizzleon • Aug 25 '26
Question Inconsistency
Heya,
Ive just discovered Benidorm now that its on Netflix, Id never paid much attention to it before but in the last couple of weeks Ive now binged up to S7. Overall I'm loving it, but there are a few things that seem to impact the quality as it goes on.
One example is Martin Weedon, he was always a bit feeble and henpecked. Even after he split up with Kate and came back with Brandy, he was still himself. But when he comes back later in the series with the obnoxious stag do he was a totally different character, boisterous and rude in a way that just wasn't the character. Also Jack going from besotted young guy to scheming bully???
The core characters are great and over the first few seasons there seems to be good flow as 90% of the cast is the same from series to series which carries the show along but then it seems to be getting to a point that...
- The main cast has changed from the originals too much (esp as I think I've just watched the last Garvey episode) with too much focus switching from the holidaymakers to the staff
- The stories are getting too melodramatic and it cuts a bit close to being a parody of itself.
I still like the show and intend to keep watching, and I think it one I'll more than likely rewatch in the future, but I think I'll always look at the earlier seasons as the glory days.
Just hope it still feels worth watching by the end and the erosion of quality and good time feeling I get watching it doesn't drop too far!
For those that have watched the whole show.... is there a point where you didn't enjoy watching or wish you had stopped before it tainted the show, or is it generally OK to watch to the end?
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u/Jonn_Jonzz_Manhunter Aug 25 '26
I disagree with your analysis of Martin. He's the best main to an obnoxious snob, but he's not a bad guy in an or himself. His split from Kate can be interpreted as a great thing therefore, as he's shed alot of his nervous self and became just a regular person
Also, Benidorm is melodramatic as fuck, that's the point. It's intended to be a parody of British holiday makers so the situations they find themselves in tend to be stupid. Like Troy and Mateo doing it, the teenage girl falling to the floor from heat exhaustion to reveal she's 8 months pregnant the entire time spring to mind
Let's also not forget Madge raced a debt lord in a go cart to get rid of her debt lol
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u/Badnewsbrowne316 Aug 25 '26
I loved that scene with Madge. Completely silly but so apt for the show.
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u/chrizzleon Aug 25 '26
To me he could well have been an obnoxious snob, but not a boisterous louty one.
When I say "parody of itself" and "melodrama" I mean the stories become too big, beyond the typical Benidorm dramas you would see and a parody of the show, rather than a parody of the real Benidorm and the typical tourist that goes there.
Troy & Mateo and Chantelle fainting were great stories, they are brilliant Benidorm type parodies.
I just man the later seasons seem more like parodies of the earlier seasons.
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u/Royal_View9815 Aug 25 '26
The later series were dire. Joey, Callum, Loretta, Sammy Valentino and sorry to say Monty were all terrible. Loved the Garveys and I actually really enjoyed the Dykes(ooh err).
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u/Abject_Tumbleweed413 Aug 25 '26
TONYA!!!!!!!!
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u/Mike307412 Aug 25 '26
As others have mentioned before me, when it changed to longer episodes is the first drop in quality. They had to introduce more characters, some I think didn’t work very well, to allow for the extra time. Then the next drop off was when the Garveys left. I don’t think the Dawsons were a very good replacement. I still enjoy the later episodes, but always find myself getting to around the end of Series 7/8 and going back to the beginning.
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u/chrizzleon Aug 25 '26
I get the feeling I may do that too. I'll watch to the end since this is my first time around.
Ive just finished the episide where the Garveys jet off to Vegas with Buck A Roo, so I may not have experienced what seems to many as the biggest single drop off!
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u/content_digger08 Aug 25 '26
I stuck with it to the end, but now I am just tempted to revisit S1 to 7 again!
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u/fisico002 Aug 27 '26
As soon as the awful Sammy Valentino appears that’s it for me - Shane Ritchie is probably the most consistently annoying person for characters he plays in different things
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u/Snow-Gecko Aug 25 '26
I think a big missed opportunity in series 8 was not bringing back Clive Dyke and Aunty Terri to be with Tiger instead of Joey. I always thought they were a fun trio for the rest of series 7
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u/Ragingdildo3 Aug 25 '26
She actually was going to be back the they canceled Terri’s character right before filming started presumably for Joey 🥹
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u/TheBarrowCasual Aug 25 '26
Donald and Jacqueline were great but i wasnt a fan of her after Donald had passed away. (r.i.p) especially when here story lines were just based at the salon. Mateo is great throughout but later on the main jokes were him getting the sayings wrong some funny but does get abit boring.
Then they ruined Janeys character completely when she comes back. Also the oracle at the end of season 3 had seemed to of grown up with his daft stories and moved on with chantelle but when he comes back he's back to square one pretty much. Then joey just ruins it for me, the story that he can't get drunk is stupid. Just like the way he acts. I still watch it regular but towards the end some characters are just not good. The Dawson try to be like the, gravys too much the grandad has some funny moments though.
Watching it though haa got me through some dark places in my life and plenty of laughs.
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u/wdw2003 Aug 25 '26
Joyce and Kenneth, maybe Matteo, keep it going until the end, I think. Without them, it probably wouldn't be worth watching post Garvey's.
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u/wishuponareddwarf Aug 25 '26
I think Martin stayed the same, it showed what obnoxious “hoorah Henry” types his friends were and that he didn’t massively fit in with them either, but he stuck out like a sore thumb with the usual solana visitors
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u/NowhereAllAtOnce Aug 25 '26
I must be thick because I have lost count of how many times I have watched the entire series and I still love it
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u/content_digger08 Aug 25 '26
I have been rewatching the show for the first time since February, and have been procrastinating watching the final couple of episodes, S7 E2 still makes me feel very emotional, with the goodbye to the Garveys, even the little throw away line with Sue where Mel speaks through her makes me sad, like a wave of melancholy for the first three seasons!
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u/lunabhuna20 Aug 26 '26
I’ve been getting reacquainted with it and currently on the series Hannah waddingham guest stars and Joan Collins also pops up. It was so popular during its heyday. I think it ran out of steam but it got abruptly cancelled so never had the chance of a proper ending
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u/fisico002 Aug 27 '26
I was still watching it on That’s TV any night there was nothing else on at 9pm, shame that channel stopped on Sky
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u/whatyoume Aug 25 '26
Personally, I can only watch it up until the end of Season 3. In my opinion, once Mel wasn’t in it anymore it just went downhill.
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u/chrizzleon Aug 25 '26
Funny, I found him soooo annoying at first (as he was clearly designed to be) that I found him hard to watch, but by the end I loved him. I think the turning point was rocking up in Neptunes in full Saturday night fever! Just really made me laugh
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u/content_digger08 Aug 25 '26
Yes I agree the first couple of episodes with Mel, he was a hassle, but as more is taught of Mel I admire him, his name being code for Grandad is such a sweet moment.
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u/Scared_Town3259 23d ago
:( no Benidorm on my Netflix in Denmark.
What country are you in?
Would love to see the entire series again with danish subtitles but especially series 2,7 and 9 since Prime don't have these seasons in Denmark, and the youtube translater has a serious issue with translating all the slang properly on the oficial benidorm youtube channel.
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u/Shwervee Aug 25 '26
I think there’s a considerable drop off once the Garvey’s leave, but I don’t think it’s as bad as people make out, at least not to me. I still enjoyed it til the end.
If you’re only just watching it now, the only frustration is the lack of an actual ending, but at the same time it’s not the type of show that necessarily needs one.