Janine Duvitski

Boy Meets Girl: A welcome return?

It's almost as if they didn't have any ideas and instead have given us a lot of well-worn cliches instead. The long distance job offer, the creation of a new business and a secret relationship are all well-worn comic tropes and Boy Meets Girl doesn't seem to what to do anything particularly new with any of them.

Boy Meets Girl review

As the United Kingdom is convulsed by a post-referendum outbreak of intolerance, goodness knows the nation needs all the harmony-enhancing, bridge-building entertainment it can lay its eyeballs on. Anything that promotes civilised values and challenges fear of otherness is to be welcomed and supported. It was in this spirit that, last year, Boy Meets Girl became the first mainstream comedy with a transgender lead character. Its return for a second series couldn't come at a more propitious moment. It's not much fun, then, to report that its good intentions are the best thing about Boy Meets Girl.

Paul Bazely & Janine Duvitski interview

Last seen in the final episode of Series 4, Troy is back in Benidorm and once again played by Paul Basely. Also back, following the very sad death of Kenny Ireland who played her on-screen husband Donald, is Janine Duvitski as Benidorm's most prolific swinger, Jacqueline Stewart.

Radio Times review

Joyce has survived her botched facial at the hands of Kenneth and wants to know exactly what was injected into her skin. The delusional Geoff (Johnny Vegas) builds bridges with the Dykes but only makes an even bigger fool of himself - in a bizarre incident involving hot coals. Les's embittered ex-wife Gloria (Denise Black) tries to lure their son Liam back to Oldham, while Jacqueline and gloomy Glynn gatecrash a pilota ball game.

An eventful episode then, but almost mirth-free as Benidorm paddles in ever shallower waters. And Janine Duvitski looks bereft paired with Alan David in place of her comedy partner, Kenny Ireland.

Interview with Donald and Jacqueline

Donald and Jacqueline - aka Kenny Ireland and Janine Duvitski - are ITV's sauciest swingers - but what makes them blush?

"Benidorm is becoming the organ theft capital of Spain," reads Janice (Siobhan Finneran) in the local paper. The headline is referring to a gang who are kidnapping people and pinching their kidneys. So no wonder there's panic in tonight's visit to the sun-drenched sitcom when Madge (Shelia Reid) is seen being bundled into the back of a car. Elsewhere, Jacqueline (Janine Duvitski) coos over the flurry of messages she's receiving through the new swingers app on her husband's phone. "It must be that picture of Condoleezza Rice I put on my profile," she says.

A sort of low-rent Strictly Come Benidorm ensues as Cyril Babcock (Matthew Kelly) holds a dance contest at the Solana. This may not be a classic episode, but the terrific ensemble cast can elevate the run-of-the-mill. Hardly surprising - Janine Duvitski's comedy pedigree extends way back to Abigail's Party, on-screen hubby Kenny Ireland's to Acorn Antiques... And young Adam Gillen (as moronic Liam) is already proving a fine comedy actor.

And if you thought new girl Trudy might become top dog, think again. As mum Janice-cum-She-Ra, Siobhan Finneran seems light years away from Miss O'Brien (the harridan she plays in Downton) but is doubly formidable.

It's surely time for the sun to set on ITV's once-sparkling comedy drama. Back tonight for a fifth series, the characters now seem as tired as the hotel they hijack each summer. Loose Women's Sherri Hewson arrives as the Solana's exacting new manager Joyce Temple Savage ("I've got a lot of experience in the travel industry. I spent three years under Richard Branson.") Otherwise it's pretty much business as usual. Tanorexic pensioner Madge (Shelia Reid) harangues daughter Janice (Siobhan Finneran) about her missing husband. Hapless handyman Liam (Adam Gillen) is still desperate for dating tips. And ageing swingers Jacqueline (Janine Duvitski) and recently resurrected husband Donald (Kenny Ireland) are back on the prowl.

The fourth series of the amusingly crass comedy series comes to an end tonight. As the Solana Resort begins to wind down, chaos still reigns among its holidaymakers. Donald (Kenny Ireland) heads off to a nudist beach, Pauline (Selina Griffiths) drowns her sorrows as she awaits news of her divorce and Jacqueline (Janine Duvitski) is involved in an unusual waterskiing accident. Business as usual then.

In tonight's double bill from 2008, vinegary gran Madge (Sheila Reid) meets her match in hard nut Sylvia - Wendy Richard in her first role after EastEnders. Their High Noon face-off around the pool in cowgirl hats and mobility scooters is a comedy classic. Meanwhile, the overweight swingers have managed to break a second bed at the Solana Resort, despite not "really going at it" and Jacqueline (saucy Janine Duvitski) keeping "one leg on the vanity unit". Benidorm benefits from a terrific ensemble, but tonight's second episode belongs to Siobhan Finneran - on another planet from her wicked soap-dropping O'Brien in Downton Abbey. As put-upon mum Janice, she's astonished by the advances of a randy Jack the lad, then stuns everyone by serenading oafish hubby Mick (Steve Pemberton) with Dead Ringer for Love at the karaoke. Like a post-watershed Corrie meets Carry On Abroad, Benidorm's hilarious sun-drenched bawdry is the perfect antidote to January blues.