ITV Bets on Season 10 of Benidorm

LONDON: ITV has commissioned a tenth season of the comedy series Benidorm, which is currently in its ninth run on the channel.

Season ten will begin production on location in Benidorm this month and will air in 2018. Comedy duo Hale & Pace join the series in season ten as undercover detectives investigating Tim Healy’s character Les/Lesley, who will return to the series full-time. Shane Richie will also be back for four episodes, reprising his role as lively entertainer Sammy Valentino, while John Challis will become a series regular as Monty Staines. The Dawsons (Julie Graham, Steve Edge, Kate Fitzgerald, Bobby Knutt and Josh Bolt) will all return, while Troy (Paul Bazely), The Oracle (Johnny Vegas) and Tiger (Danny Walters) will not be back for season ten.

The show’s creator, Derren Litten, will pen episodes one through three, as well as eight and nine, of the new season. Mark Brotherhood (Shameless, Mount Pleasant) will write episodes four through seven. Story lines and guest stars will be revealed closer to the premiere. Benidorm is a Tiger Aspect production for ITV.

Litten commented: “When I wrote the first script of Benidorm I had no idea it would change my life so dramatically over the next ten years. As I put the finishing touches on the 74th episode I am so grateful to our fans and to ITV for giving Benidorm the best possible home we could hope for. Here’s to the next ten years!”

Saskia Schuster, ITV’s comedy commissioning editor, said, “Benidorm is very much part of the ITV family, with viewers taking these wonderful characters to their hearts. Show creator, writer and exec producer Derren Litten has some great plans for the tenth series and it’s a real treat to welcome Hale & Pace and Shane Richie to the Solana resort.”