Shane Richie stars in his first leading role since leaving EastEnders, in a funny and moving film about growing up and growing old which will be shown on TVM this evening at 9.30pm.

Filmed in Malta and Gozo, What We Did On Our Holiday is a bittersweet comedy drama that has been adapted for television.

Loving son and husband Nick (Shane Richie) plans to take his ageing and ailing parents Lil (Pauline Collins) and Jim (Roger Lloyd Pack) on one last holiday to Malta, where his father served at RAF Luqa.

Things take an unexpected turn when Jim, in the late stages of Parkinson’s Disease, confesses to a romance before he married.

It was a romance that produced an illegitimate son, Anthony Spiteri.

The hunt for Anthony takes them across the whole of Malta; from the city streets of Valletta to the quiet rural churches of Gozo, hampered every step of the way by Jim’s condition.

When they do eventually track down the long lost son, he’s nothing like they expected. Anthony is handsome, successful and charming; qualities which Nick feels he severely lacks.

What We Did On Our Holiday also stars Maltese actors Manuel Cauchi, Charlotte Grech and Malcolm Galea.

The film is produced by Granada Productions and was broadcast on ITV in the UK in November.