The Holiday
Channel 5, 9pm
A Mediterranean holiday fuelled by rosé and infidelity is the subject of this boilerplate airport novel in TV form. Jill Halfpenny stars as Kate, who arrives in Malta for a villa vacation with her three best friends and all their families. It quickly turns sour when she discovers texts between a mystery woman and her husband, Sean (Owen McDonnell), who, despite having a handsy manner, is painted as a bit of a catch. Then one of the husbands tells Kate that his wife is having an affair and you expect Kate, a detective in the day job, to put two and two together, but the need to draw this mystery out over three further nights this week means that Kate displays a laughable lack of curiosity: she fails to question anyone. Nevertheless, it’s a compulsive watch – Halfpenny leads with panache, and it emerges that there’s some uncomfortable history between these friends likely to erupt over a fourth jug of sangria. Flash-forwards to characters caught in a wildfire hint that a more serious crisis than bedhopping will emerge. Vicki Power