Holiday Showdown

Tonight, what happens when a family of extreme campers is put together with a family who love the sophisticated art and culture of Florence in Italy? Sparks fly with hilarious and surprising consequences as the two families attempt to persuade each other that their holiday is the best. The Townsend family from Solihull in the West Midlands take an extreme approach to their camping on remote Shell Island, off the coast of North Wales. There’s warehouse supervisor Craig (43), Tracey (39) and their two children Katie (14) and Samantha (7). They believe in a back –to-basics camping regime where they use only one toothbrush, there’s no toilet (“One toilet roll is quite enough – it’s four sheets per pooh”), they don’t wash, and they forbid the use of watches because on holiday time is irrelevant. They’ll be subjecting the luxury-loving Cox family to their extraordinary holiday. Living just 3 miles from Prince Charles’ home in Gloucestershire, there’s art-shop-owner Denis (44), Isabelle (54), Helena (12), Charles (11) and Henry (8). They love five-star hotels and maximum comfort. The Cox’s believe that education and culture are vitally important (“Ignorance is free, education is expensive”) and Denis in particular loves the Renaissance wonders of Florence.

A traditional fun-loving family from West Sussex go to wild Tenerife and team up with a family from Peterborough, who love the peace and activity challenges presented by the mountains and rivers of the Lake District. But will they get along?

Psychologists Jonathon and Amanda Armes from Exeter take their children on a hectic banger-racing break in Skegness with the larger-than-life Baker family from Cambridgeshire - but find their company stressful and flatly refuse to accompany them to Morocco, even though it's their own favourite holiday destination

The fun-loving Coppocks from Liverpool enjoy a booze-fuelled fiesta in the Algarve while the strait-laced Whites from Sutton Coldfield prefer the delights of a historical sightseeing tour near Lisbon - and feelings run high when the two families team up to see how the other half lives

The football-mad Bexon-Simkin family from Church Gresley, Derbyshire, set off for a week of sun, sangria and televised soccer in Gran Canaria with the Falls from Cleveland, who then repay the favour by taking them on a relaxing break in rural Lonsdale Park near Carlisle, where fishing is the chief leisure pursuit on offer

The Angel-Guest family from Malvern all have psychic abilities (“We’re not the cereal-packet family, never have been, never will be”) and love taking holidays on ghost-busting trips to the most haunted places in Britain. Ex-police officer Julie (32) and her ex-roadie partner Christian (also 32) are both ordained Reverends of the Universal Life Church. Christian’s daughter Emily (13) is an apprentice herbalist and his nephew Danny Bennett (14) has just become an ordained Reverend and likes to draw people’s auras. The down-to-earth Palmer family from Borrowash in Derbyshire is a total contrast – they love the action-packed child-centred fun and frolics of a Haven holiday camp in Devon. Dad Bill (42) is a gardener and Mum Tracey a beautician. They have five children, Amy (17), Jordan (15), Corey (12), Alice (11) and Amelia (7). Bill in particular is an atheist and feels that “all this ghosts and ghoulies is crap”.

The down-to-earth Matthews family from Selsey go on a golfing break in Bordeaux with luxury-loving Hampshire couple Chris and Maggie Williams and their kids - and later repay the favour by taking them on a back-to-basics holiday in Devon, where paintballing and quad biking are among the activities on offer. As usual, much acrimony ensues