Hannah Waddingham

Radio Times review

A pensioner expires under the hairdryer in Blow 'n' Go, leaving Kenneth and Liam in a pickle. Drippy Martin wakes up after the stag do in bed with (he believes) a teenage girl. Donald and Jacqueline, cavorting in lycra and anti-grav boots, take on the lads, Michael and Tiger, in a beach-volleyball contest. And Tonya Dyke (magnificent Hannah Waddingham) resorts to Abba at the karaoke to get the better of oily Mateo.

Sounds a riot, doesn't it? But apart from the odd racy line, Benidorm is creaking like an old banger in need of lubrication. The Garveys (Steve Pemberton, Siobhan Finneran and Sheila Reid - all of them a gift to any writer) deserve better material.

Patrick Mulkern, Radio Times, 23rd January 2014

The Dykes from Watford are certainly livening things up at the Solana. Roly-poly dad Clive (Perry Benson) is affable enough, but his Amazonian wife Tonya (Hannah Waddingham) is appalled to be stuck in a "swingers' hotel". Daughter Bianca (Bel Powley) is mistaken for a high-class prostitute, while her brother Tiger (Danny Walters) is proving himself Benidorm's answer to the Artful Dodger.

He leads Michael astray, the Garvey lad who, between series, has shot up from cute kid on the periphery to wayward teen key to the mayhem. With Madge sniping from her motorised wheelchair and Mick let out of jail, a full-on bust-up between Dykes and Garveys is guaranteed.

In other news, camp Kenneth is reopening his Blow 'n' Go salon, and Joyce has a hot flush over Mateo's shirt-ripping brawl with a rival cocktail tosser.

Patrick Mulkern, Radio Times, 9th January 2014