Details

Sun, sea and suspicious deaths provide an unlikely change of scenery for John Hannah in Benidorm Is Murder, the new comedy crime drama available on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK.

Hannah stars as Dennis, a burned-out former police detective who has left Britain behind in search of a quieter life on Spain's Costa Blanca. Unfortunately, his attempt at retirement isn't going particularly well. Having swapped police work for running a shabby Scottish pub in Benidorm, Dennis appears content to sit on the sidelines while both his business and enthusiasm for life slowly disappear.

Then Rosa (Carolina Bécquer) walks through the door.

An aspiring actress with an encyclopaedic knowledge of British television crime dramas, Rosa talks her way into a job behind Dennis's bar and quickly discovers that her miserable new employer possesses a considerable talent for solving crimes.

When tourists start turning up dead around the resort, Rosa decides that Dennis's detective days aren't quite as firmly behind him as he might like to believe.

Together, the unlikely pair begin investigating the murders that Benidorm's overstretched police would often rather they left alone. Dennis brings years of genuine police experience and a naturally suspicious mind to their investigations, while Rosa enthusiastically applies everything she has learned from a lifetime watching television detectives.

Keeping an increasingly exasperated eye on their amateur investigations is DS María Hernandez (Ariadna Cabrol), who has a complicated relationship with Dennis and regularly reminds him that he is no longer a police officer. Alongside her is inexperienced young PC Jesús Ballesteros (Damian Schedler Cruz), while Brian Bovell plays Archie, the resident philosopher and permanent fixture at Dennis's Tavern who occasionally spots the clue everybody else has overlooked.

Across six episodes, Dennis and Rosa discover that even a holiday paradise can provide plenty of opportunities for murder.

Their first investigation takes them to an adults-only hotel where a budget Take That tribute act is thrown into turmoil when a feud between its performers turns deadly.

The pair subsequently venture into Benidorm's comedy circuit when a veteran comedian becomes involved in a suspicious death at the Laughter Lounge, before a chaotic hen weekend leaves a member of the party dead and gives Rosa another opportunity to put her television detective knowledge into practice.

A trip into the fiercely competitive world of bingo follows when a former jackpot winner is discovered dead with a completed bingo card beside her, while the apparently peaceful surroundings of Levante Beach provide another mystery after a wealthy holidaymaker is found dead on his sun lounger.

But while most of the investigations begin with the misfortunes of tourists and colourful Benidorm residents, Dennis has problems of his own.

His decision to disappear into a new life in Spain hasn't entirely separated him from the failures, damaged relationships and enemies he left behind. As the series progresses, Dennis's past begins catching up with him, bringing his estranged family and some considerably less welcome figures back into his life.

The result combines the self-contained mysteries of a traditional cosy crime series with comedy and an ongoing story surrounding its reluctant detective, taking the familiar murder-mystery formula away from picturesque English villages and placing it among the bars, hotels, beaches, hen parties and holidaymakers of Benidorm.

John Hannah and Carolina Bécquer lead the series alongside Ariadna Cabrol, Brian Bovell and Damian Schedler Cruz, with a collection of familiar faces appearing throughout the individual mysteries.

Alistair McGowan and Denise Welch guest star in the comedy-club investigation, Amy Huberman becomes part of the disastrous hen weekend, while Tamzin Outhwaite appears as Dennis's ex-wife Tiff as his personal history increasingly becomes part of the story.

Created by Ian Jarvis, whose previous credits include The Job Lot and The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, the six-part series is produced by BlackBox Multimedia and Clapperboard Studios. Simon Delaney serves as lead director, with Dermot Boyd directing the fifth episode, while Jarvis is joined on the writing team by Yasmine Akram, Claire Downes and Tom Parry.

Unlike many sunny crime dramas that use other locations to double for their fictional setting, *Benidorm Is Murder* was filmed in Benidorm itself, making use of the Spanish resort and its distinctive skyline, bars and beaches - including Levante and Poniente - as the backdrop for Dennis and Rosa's investigations.

The complete Benidorm Is Murder is released on Blu-ray and DVD in 7th September 2026 by Dazzler Media.