Viewers of Channel 5’s The Holiday have slammed the ‘wooden’ acting and ‘dreadful’ plot in the new crime drama.
The show, which debuted last night, is based on T. M. Logan’s 2019 best-selling novel of the same name. It follows Kate, played by Jenny Halfpenny, a jealous wife who becomes convinced her husband is cheating on her, as she holidays with a group of friends in Malta.
However the trip took a grim turn in the first episode, when one of the holidaymakers is found dead at the bottom of a sheer cliff face.
But despite the cliffhanger ending to the first show, viewers slated the series online, with one writing: ‘Not feeling it, and was really looking forward to this – an hour I’ll never get back.’
Viewers have panned Channel 5’s new thriller The Holiday after it aired last night. The show is based on T M Logan’s best-selling novel of the same name, but failed to translate its appeal to TV
Jenny Halfpenny plays Kate, a mother-of-two who suspects her husband Sean of cheating on her after finding illicit texts on his phone
The four-part series debuted last night and will air each evening before reaching its climax on Friday.
In the first episode, policewoman Kate headed off on a family holiday with three of her friends and their respective partners and children.
Kate’s husband Sean, played by Owen McDonell, joined her, alongside their teenage daughter Lucy (Lara McDonnel) and their son Daniel (Aidan McCann).
They were met by Kate’s old university friends Rowan and Jenny, as well as their husbands and Kate’s single friend Izzy.
Viewers were not sold on the thriller’s first episode, as some said it was a ‘yawn fest’ with ‘wooden acting’
While the holiday got off to a great start, Kate soon discovered a mysterious text on Sean’s phone from a possible mistress identified only as ‘Coral Girl.’
Texts shown onscreen read ‘delete all messages’ and ‘have you told Kate?’
This ignited Kate’s suspicion that Sean was cheating on her, and that his mistress could be one of the friends she was holidaying with.
Meanwhile, while the core of the intrigue focused on Kate, the first episode also hinted that all was not well between Lucy and Jenny’s moody son Jake.
During the first episode, viewers learnt that Sean, played by Owen McDonell, right, could be having an affair with the other women on the holiday
The first episode of the four-part series sees Kate and Sean holidaying with their friends Rowan and Jenny and their respective husbands
Kate’s suspicions over Sean turned to obsession, and the show ended with the reveal of a bloodied body down a cliff, though the victim’s identity was not revealed.
However, viewers were not sold on its TV adaptation of the hugely popular novel, with one writing: ‘Gave up!
‘Liked the idea and #JillHalfpenny I love, but bad scripts, too much lingering, is THIS is what is has come to.’
‘This was dreadful with wooden acting. And they all looked freezing during the al fresco meal at the restaurant.
‘Clearly filmed out of season. I bailed after 30 minutes…I don’t care what happens to any of them,’ another said.
However the holiday takes a turn for the worse when Kate discovered Sean was speaking to a woman over text identified as ‘Coral Girl’
Kate’s suspicions over Sean turned to obsession, and the show ended with the reveal of a bloodied body down a cliff, though the victim’s identity was not revealed
‘Watched The Holiday and it was shocking. Give me the Jude Law snowy version instead please,’ one wrote.
Others called the show a ‘yawn fest.’
‘Is something actually going to happen…..? #theholiday It’s just all a lot of sulky, two-faced weirdness.
‘And the teenage girl is driving me mad. For god sake, smile girl!!! It’s not a good first episode to pull in viewers,’ one said.
The couple children Daniel, left and Lucy, right, are also involved in a teenage intrigue with Jenny’s son Jake
‘Can’t really get into this, anyone else struggling,’ another wrote.
The book is based on T. M. Logan’s The Holiday, which became an instant best-seller when it was published in 2019.
It has sold more than one million copies to date and has been translated in 18 languages worldwide.
