C5 crew outside Hospital Clinica Benidorm

The Brits in Benidorm are now use to seeing television cameras around - obviously the most popular and recognised being the Benidorm series. Currently the Channel 5 film crew are back at the Hospital Clinica Benidorm filming another two series of Benidorm ER - the first of six episodes from series 3 will be broadcast tonight on C5, 8pm UK time/ 9pm Spanish time. The crew are at the hospital until 27th December, filming series 4 which will be broadcast in the New Year and are looking for an ex-pats that are scheduled for any procedures.

But it´s not only the British television companies which are filming here. This week TVE2, the second biggest television station in Spain have been recording a documentary "El Escarabajo Verde" about British ex-pats and how they have adjusted to Spanish routines and way of life. Reporter and Researcher Xavier Sitjá was accompanied by a 3 man crew over two days earlier this week along with ex-pat Pamela Dawson Tasker, who assisted them.

Afternoon tea

On Tuesday morning they attended the weekly meeting of the Companians Social Club in Albir - which has nearly 500 ex-pat members. In the afternoon they went to the home of Sue and Peter Cranage who hosted an afternoon tea for friends Patricia and Barrie Ambrose - complete with scones, dainty sandwiches, fruit cake and obviously tea served in elegant china cups and saucers.They wanted to know all about the tradition of afternoon tea and whether they had continued with it since moving to Spain and how they enjoyed the Spanish way of life.

Then yesterday I went to the home of friends Sue and Bernard Makinson where they wanted to film Brits having drinks and dinner - and whether our patterns had changed to tie in with Spanish habits.... such as eating late - very late! We told them that most Brits more or less kept to the same habits as back in the UK - well we all did and very rarely ate dinner like the Spanish, which can be at 10pm or in the summer much later.

Xavier wanted to know our thoughts on the traditional mid afternoon Spanish siesta, and if we took one. He was interested on my opinion when I told him that I had young children when we first arrived in Spain and how it affected them having a ridiculously long lunch break! We then went on to talk about issues such as bank and post office closing times - half day whereas in the UK they are open business hours and small shops still closing for a long lunch break.

Over the two days they recorded around 30 hours which will be edited down to a 28 minute programme - as a rule they record approximately one hour for 1 minute of screen time! The documentary is due to be screened towards the end of November - it will be interesting to hear the opinion of Spanish people... I will definitely watch it. When programmes are edited often things said are taken completely out of context - as I know following my stint on Come Dine with Me and things I had allegedly said.

One lady by the name of Sue McCray has been very busy writing to the editors of all the British newspapers I contribute to - her opinion being that I made derisory comments about Benidorm so I assume her thoughts are why should I be allowed to write for them... Its all about the editing, of which the participants have no control over - I thought everyone knew that.