The Yorkshire Post says: Comedy series could be the last resort for Scarborough – here’s why

In Scarborough, they may soon have cause to revise the old adage that any publicity is good publicity.
Comedian Jason Manford is the star of the BBC's ScarboroughComedian Jason Manford is the star of the BBC's Scarborough
Comedian Jason Manford is the star of the BBC's Scarborough

The fact that the BBC is to shoot a comedy series there would normally be a cause for joy unconfined, but this one is a double-edged sword – bringing exposure to the town in much the same way that its writer perpetuated stereotypes about another holiday destination.

Benidorm never set out to be nasty, but that, in a way, was all the worse for the reputation of the Spanish resort in which it was set.

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Its Carry On style high-jinks were executed so convincingly that viewers might easily have come away thinking that they a representation of what really went on there.

That series is over now and its writer has moved on to Scarborough, which has a similar – though, he says, milder – premise. It is set partly in a karaoke bar.

Is it an that image the town wishes to project, and will it generate tourism of the kind it wants? The jewel of the east coast is many things but it is no Benidorm.