When the marketing bods at a rather dull and indistinct digital channel decided that it would be a wonderful idea to rebrand as ‘Dave’, there must have been many within the organisation, as well as us mere on-lookers, who though it a little… well, risky. But look at it now! All grown up with great comedy repeats and – whodathunk it – their very own original content! But will anyone bother to seek out Dave to watch yet another comedy panel show? If the quality of tonight’s opening episode of Argumental is anything to go by, they should do.

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Not that it started all that promisingly – the titles are virtually identical to those of 8 Out Of 10 Cats! I mean, I don’t have anything particularly against 8 Out Of 10 Cats – Sean Lock is always a joy (though Sarah Silverman’s recent performance on the show convinced me that she should take over as the other team captain) – but the similarity suggested that this was going to be an Annually Retentive-esque derivative show with no real ambitions to do anything different or interesting. In fact, the titles sell the show short, as this really does have what annoying business people would call a USP – a unique selling point.

The show is essentially a comedy debating society, with members of the red and blue teams – captained by Marcus Brigstocke and Rufus Hound respectively – having to argue for and against certain issues, as dictated by host John Sergeant. Any show which lets funny people rant for minutes on end is almost guaranteed to be enjoyable, but here an extra frisson is added by virtue of the fact that the comedians must argue in favour of things they are in reality dead against, and vice versa. As such, it tests their wit and, let’s face it, intelligence, to a great degree, and all of the participants came out of tonight’s show looking good.

The first statement was “Politics is a waste of time”, and Brigstocke argued that we shouldn’t be governed by men who agree with the statements of their leaders by growling like bears. Dara O’Briain, on the opposing team, picked up the theme beautifully: “This is how they will take away the right to vote that you have fought for” he said, “they; the Red Team, China. He even said it! ‘Do you want the country to be run by bears?’ He let the façade slip, and the pandas come out.” Mark Watson, commenting on the debate, stated that he felt that “bears played a bigger part than was necessary.”

Argumental is great vehicle for Mark Watson’s talent, incidentally. Anyone who’s seen his stand up shows, or the late night quiz he hosts at the Edinburgh Fringe will know how wonderfully quick he is, but he’s also polite to a fault, and therefore never gets a word in edgeways on shows like Mock The Week (but then who does, with Frankie Boyle around?!) Here he’s really found his format though – the ability to genuinely ad-lib suits him well – and I hope he’ll be back on soon.

Everyone, in fact, impressed, with Rufus Hound finally getting the chance to really shine on TV, and Brigstocke playing up brilliantly to his angry young man persona. The only downside was what little impact John Sergeant has on proceedings, especially since we’ve got to know what an entertaining person he is through Strictly. But perhaps he’ll feel able to match up to the professional comics as time goes on, and even if he stays slightly in the background it isn’t much of a black mark against a show which is genuinely entertaining from the off, has some great twists on the debating society format of the first round and, importantly, is a great showcase for our top comedians, without letting them just spout their usual stand-up material. Good stuff.