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The one and only time my family and I holidayed together in a caravan was when I was 12.

Pulling back the bed sheets on arrival we discovered that the mattress was covered with dead woodlice, the chemical toilet leaked and, on the second night, I fell from my bunk and split my head open.

Plus, given we couldn't even get on in a three bedroom house, the idea that a fortnight in a tin can on a rain-swept field in Fishguard would somehow defuse any underlying familial tension was probably flawed from the get-go.

But even two weeks of that porta-potty purgatory was preferable to watching the first episode of BBC One Wales' new caravan park 'comedy drama' Pitching In.

(Image: MAI)

On paper it probably seemed like a good idea: set it in Wales, reunite two stars of one of this country's most beloved sitcoms, Gavin & Stacey .

I mean, what on Earth could go wrong?

Well, judging by the universally-scathing reaction to the new Larry Lamb/Melanie Walters show, quite a lot.

The much-hyped six-part series, which debuted at 9pm last night has attracted a torrent of criticism from those who've accused it of being culturally tone-deaf and "an insult to Wales and the Welsh language".

The chief complaint seems to revolve around the fact that despite being shot and based in Anglesey, few, if any, of the actors featured actually hail from the area, with many of the accents on display being either English or from the South Wales Valleys.

Pitching In's acting came in for little better either, with one unimpressed viewer describing it as "The Welsh Eldorado", drawing comparisons with the Beeb's long forgotten and little lamented Costa del Cobblers soap set amongst UK ex-pats in Spain.

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Lamb, in particular - so good both as genial Mick Shipman in Gavin & Stacey and evil Archie in EastEnders - didn't so much as phone in his performance as fall asleep whilst texting it whilst on the coach back from the day centre.

And the rest of the acting on display was am-dram at best, while the hour-long run time felt padded out to endurance-testing levels by lengthy pointless scenes full of dawdling dialogue.

Take the needless bit where Lamb and two co-stars mucked around for what seemed like an eternity on surfboards by the beach - so embarrassingly unfunny I felt my toes curling.

(Image: MAI)

"Wait 'til you see Nicky the instructor," goaded one character as the wet-suited trio complained about the cold.

"Blonde, six foot, piercing blue eyes..."

Cue the sucking in of guts and the desperate middle-aged attempt to look chiselled, before - ha ha, surprise! - Nicky the instructor turned out to be a bloke.

And, if you laughed at that then... well, chances are you're the commissioning editor for BBC Wales, because I guarantee you no one else even cracked a smile.

Indeed, the only laugh of the entire 60 minutes came courtesy of the station's continuity announcer seconds after the end credits finished rolling.

"See, told you it was good, didn't I?" he said.