Benidorm

It is the first day of the holidays, and the Solana is in chaos, with Mateo and Les/Lesley barely able to keep control. They are waiting for the appearance of new manager Joyce Temple-Savage, but a coachload of angry holidaymakers arrives first. Kenneth is now proprietor of the Solana's new hair salon, and he and Gavin take time to comfort the recently widowed Jacqueline.

New manager Joyce organises a dance competition for the guests and everyone is eager to take part. Rehearsals are supervised by her old flame Cyril Babcock, an ageing playboy whose impatience with the talentless contestants leads to a dance-off with Mateo. Elsewhere, Kenneth hires an assistant for the salon, but her minimal knowledge of hairdressing and English leads to an unfortunate accident with her first client.

Mick is unimpressed when his nice-but-dim brother Pete and his crotchety dad Stan arrive in Benidorm for Pete's stag party; meanwhile, Gavin thinks that Troy has dumped him so he agrees to a date with Emilio, and Trudy comes up with a way to get intimate with Mateo, but her plans are scuppered by Les/Lesley; elsewhere, Donald takes Michael and Liam to see Jacqueline perform her erotic striptease at a local club.

The Garveys are alarmed by rumours of a gang kidnapping the unwary and stealing their organs, so when Michael sees a tall dark stranger bundling Madge into a car, they are convinced she is a victim. Still after a fourth star for the Solana, Joyce invites Victor St James of `Costa Class' magazine to visit and she instructs Mateo to cook an authentic Spanish paella. Les agrees to help and sends Liam out to buy the ingredients.

The British Olympic Synchronised Swimming team are in town to practise and Joyce persuades them to stay at the Solana. Although the team's very strict coach is not too impressed with the facilities, she agrees to Joyce's plan for a gala display in the hotel's pool. Elsewhere, Madge is very keen on the handsome Mohammed, the son of a wealthy property developer who knew Mel, and the girls of the swimming team go sightseeing.

Madge is preparing for her wedding to Mohammed, the wealthy son of Mel's old business partner; however, when Mick and Michael come across Mohammed in a sports bar, they suspect that he is not quite what he seems. Elsewhere, Joyce thinks that someone in the hotel is feeding negative stories about the Solana to the local press, so she recruits Donald and Jacqueline to spy on the staff.

Joyce becomes convinced that new guest Mrs Simmonds is the hotel assessor, but her attempts to impress do not start smoothly when Mrs Simmonds witnesses Joyce evicting a furious Kenneth from his salon for late payment of rent. The hotel is also playing host to underworld figures Lennie and Neville, who gave Donald a hard time when he was in prison.