I usually frown on new American dramas with a female skew. Not because I’m misogynist, but because I’m a bloke and these shows obviously weren’t meant for me and I find not much in them for me to enjoy. I mean, I kind of enjoyed bits of Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives is amusing in places, but I just can’t get into Grey’s Anatomy. I kind of like well-rounded US dramas like Six Feet Under et al, where equal weight is given to both male and female characters. Which is why I’m surprised and delighted that I loved new Channel 4 import Brothers and Sisters, coming to a screen near you in a few weeks time. It’s really, really good.

I’ve just seen the first couple of eps, and the series that has been written by Thirtysomething and The West Wing people is a winner in my book – adult issues treated with respect and fine writing, wry humour and complicated family ties aplenty. It’s even got Calista Flockhart in it.

It centres around the said Flockhart. She plays Kitty, part of a dysfunctional family who fight and argue but love each other too. Aaaw. She hates her mum (played by Sally Field), her mum hates her. Youngest child Justin is an Afghanistan war vet with issues, another son is Kevin, a gay lawyer, and another son works for the family business and is the apple of his dad’s eye. A sister, played by Six Feet Under’s Rachel Griffiths (always astonishing in my book), is struggling to balance family business life with home life. Basically, every character has their issues, and every character has something going on, whether it be an affair or other problems to deal with.

Everything goes the shape of the pear when the much-loved patriarch snuffs it in the swimming pool and things kick off. His will doesn’t go down well with the siblings, and suddenly family grievances come to the fore.

It’s really good and I can forgive the usual US music-video montages that plague Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a family drama with real issue and terrific performances. One to watch if you ask me.