TW
0

All those who could were glued to BBC1 yesterday for the Passport to the Sun Christmas special previewing the new series which starts in the New Year and even Michael Douglas was impressed with how the producers have managed to get 40 more episodes out of Majorca. Popular “stars” from the first series were back including the London cabbies, Peter Stringfellow, the Bulletin, and Leapy Lee who in the new series will be accompanied by his newly born twins and the new presenter Nadia Sawalha having a much larger role. The series will also give another in depth insight into the typical tourists who love Majorca and what they get up to during their summer holidays. This second series sees the producers branching out, not only by featuring more local faces, but also the Mediterranean as a whole through the eyes of the entertainment team on board one of the cruise ships based in Palma. The series will also act as the perfect swan song for Canon Jim Hawthorne who leaves Majorca this Easter. Yesterday's special featured Canon Jim blessing the new electric chair at the British Consulate and the Centro Canino, “Majorca's answer to Battersea dogs' home” where a flustered and under-pressure Barbara Mayhew was “feeling better” for her two glasses of cava. The film crews certainly had a busy summer at the local hospitals, not only for the birth of Leapy's twins, but also all the tourists admitted over the summer and Sawalha was in some pain herself, complaining that her face ached after too much smiling having spent a day in the life of airport rep. Action and suspense is provided by a Majorcan based spy novelist “BJ” and the glamour is provided by Catherine Zeta Jones and Micheal Douglas, who says that Zeta Jones's “Welsh friends” love the island but always leave looking rather pink from the sun. But while her stardom is established, from January 1 Majorca's 40 episodes of fame is guaranteed.