Straight after Frost and Pegg's Perfect Night In on Channel 4 this Sunday (Channel 4, 9pm), Channel 4 are being very generous and giving us two repeats of the utterly fabulous Spaced to enjoy.

As you may have worked out from the handy title of this post, I love Spaced, and I'm going to tell you why. Now, a lot of people will tell you that Spaced is so brilliant because it's modern and clever. And there's no denying that it is both of those things. Edgar Wright is a brilliant director - probably the only British director working at the moment whose work is instantly recognisable - and he makes this sit-com look like it cost a million dollars to create. The soundtrack is impossibly cool (the hip-hop version of Peter and the Wolf is a particular favourite of mine), and the pop culture references are constant. But this show appeals to the heart as well as the head.

Spaced proves that modern doesn't have to mean cold and bitter. Unlike two other fantastic sit-coms of the 21st century - Nathan Barley and Peep Show - this comedy contains people who honestly, sincerely like each other, who love each other as family. Like The Mighty Boosh, and, in the final specials at least, The Office, Spaced has a huge heart - it is, in fact, pretty sentimental.

We should go through the characters. Well, there's Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg). He's an aspiring graphic artist - and a successful one by the end of the two series - a grumpy fellow who travels everywhere on his skateboard, and has yet to forgive George Lucas for The Phantom Menace (we all share your pain, Tim). And then there's Daisy Steiner (Jessica Stevenson, or Hynes, as she has decreed she must henceforth be named). She's an aspiring journalist - not so successful, but getting there - who jumps from one project to another to avoid doing any work, but who is fiercely loyal and a great best mate. Thrown together by circumstance, it's beautiful to watch their relationship (and unspoken love) blossom. We know they're perfect for each other, it's just not clear whether they do as well.

If anything though, it's the supporting cast who really make this show special. Tim's best friend is Mike (Nick Frost) who's obsessed with the army, Daisy's best friend is Twist (Katy Carmichael), who's obsessed with fashion and herself, and Brian (Mark Heap) lives downstairs. He's an artist who specialises in pain, anger, fear and aggression, naturally. Add in the drunk but lovable landlady Masha and a gorgeous dog called Colin, and you've got the whole Spaced team. An odd bunch, but then that's what's so wonderful. When Daisy says to Tim 'You don't like Brian do you?' he answers 'I do like him, I'm just not sure why', and that seems to sum it up.

The two series follow this group of friends as they struggle to become Proper Grown Ups with pop culture as their only frame of reference. They save their dog from freelance vivisectionists, throw awful parties, have a Matrix-style fight with secret agents, fall out, make up, and punch an artist in the face. It's like a puzzle that you keep finding new pieces for, and never want to finish, it tells you life isn't like the movies and then ends a series with Tim and Daisy taking to the dancefloor, and you know what else? I've seen it a thousand times and it still makes me laugh.

Set The Video: Frost and Pegg's Perfect Night In, Channel 4, Sunday 13 May, 9pm
Set The Video: Spaced, Channel 4, Sunday 13 May, 11.10pm [annawaits]