Steve Pemberton

Ask the Psychoville agony uncles

It's not easy being a children's entertainer with a prosthetic hand. Or a millionaire with Paradise Syndrome. Thankfully, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are here to help.

Steve Pemberton: "Psychoville 2 is coming..."

Psychoville co-creator Steve Pemberton has composed a special message for you. He even warns those of a spoiler-sensitive disposition to look away before it's too late...

Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton interview

Psychoville, the dark and demented comedy starring and written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, returns for a second series...

Psychoville 2: Reece & Steve interview

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton - co-creators, writers and performers behind dark comedy classic Psychoville - talk about Series 2...

Heavyweight swinger Donald goes AWOL on the nudist beach, his wife Jacqueline causes a water-skiing accident, Gavin's partner Troy surfaces with dramatic news, and Madge launches her new bar, the Batley Arms Thus ends another ribald season at the Solana Resort. The show may have lost three key Geoffreys - Perkins (its original producer) and Hutchings (who played Mel) have both died, while mummy's boy Geoff (Johnny Vegas) was dropped last year - but the sun still shines on Benidorm. Around seven million viewers tune in every week for Derren Litten's award-winning, lovingly spun sitcom, which remains refreshingly unabashed at mining all things crass, crude and obvious. A superlative cast makes even the bum notes sing. And Steve Pemberton shows he doesn't need the togs and teeth of his Psychoville and League of Gentlemen grotesques to create a great character. Trunks, lobster tan and a patina of sweat and he's ready to go.

The second episode of this saucy seaside comedy delivers more innuendo-laden material. Tonight, layabout husband Mick (Steve Pemberton) finds himself squabbling with uptight newcomer Pauline (Selina Griffiths), but their fights seem to end up with them in accidental sexual positions, much to the fury of Mick's wife Janice (Siobhan Finneran). That's about as sophisticated as it gets. The series boasts a raft of talented actors, including Tony Maudsley and Tim Healy, but relies for titters on jokes about gastric upset and the double meaning of "balls", which are about as funny as sunstroke.

With brassy characters, outlandish storylines and a sun-drenched setting, it's easy to see why Derren Litten's comedy drama has become so popular. It's back for a fourth series, although it's starting to lose its sparkle. New holidaymakers include portly hairdresser Kenneth (Tony Maudsley) and party girls Sam and Natalie (Shelley Longworth and Kathryn Drysdale). Meanwhile Solana stalwarts the Garveys (Steve Pemberton and Siobhan Finneran) return to track down a beleaguered Madge (Shelia Reid).

Steve Pemberton: Bee that had Broadway buzzing

As the New York hit 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' arrives in London, its star Steve Pemberton talks to Jasper Rees.

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.

Derren Litten's Costa comedy is, as you'd hope, growing old gracelessly. At its heart is still the crabby marriage of Mick (Steve Pemberton) and Janice (Siobhan Finneran) as they take their umpteenth break in the Spanish sun, although these days Janice's mean-spirited mum is married to local mobility-scooter king, Mel, and hanging out at his lavish villa in a Jacuzzi. Mel was played by Geoffrey Hutchings, who died earlier this year, but this one-off finds a touching way to deal with his passing. As farcical storylines collide, a sad tale bubbles away off-screen.