Benidorm gets off to a great start

Benidorm, ITV1's newest comedy, got off to a great start on Thursday night. The sitcom, which stars Johnny Vegas and Steve Pemberton as holidaying Brits, was seen by 5.3 million viewers (a 26% audience share) according to unofficial overnights.

Derren Litten's comedy easily beat BBC2's satirical quiz show Mock the Week which only managed 1.9 million viewers (a 9% share) during the same 10pm time slot. Benidorm also beat Bonkers in the ratings - the ITV comedy drama, which stars Liza Tarbuck and Mark Addy and was launched immediately before Benidorm, was seen by 4.9 million.

It was pretty good night for ITV1 all round, with Emmerdale and The Bill dominating the 7pm-9pm period. The broadcaster is likely to be very pleased with the figures as it is to pump considerable investment into producing new comedy.

The question now is whether the new comedies can deliver large audiences to ITV throughout the rest of their runs. A lot of viewers tuned into Benidorm out of curiosity and so may not tune in again. Based on today's audience reaction it's likely that will indeed be the case – the feedback has been mainly negative - a picture that is reflected in our forum thread.

This is what today's papers have to say about Benidorm:

"The only thing it lacks is a reason for existing - oh, and real characters, humour and anything to stop you falling asleep whenever it's on." Matt Baylis, Daily Express & Daily Star

"At times it was like watching the 1980s sitcom Duty Free after it had sunk too many pints, then Phoenix Nights with the instincts of Shameless." Ian Johns, The Times

"As a piece of social satire Benidorm was, in a sense, savagely accurate. As a comedy, though - especially an ITV comedy - it left everything to be desired." Gerard O'Donovan, The Daily Telegraph

"Extraordinarily stupid, crude and clunky. Packed full of bawdy innuendo and stereotypes, and devoid of humour, not worth further mention." Sam Wollaston, The Guardian