After the feast of festive fun that was the Lark Rise Christmas Special, we settle down to the remainder of Lark Rise’s 11-week run, and the first thing on the agenda is a new love interest for Dorcas. Only she’s not alone in having her eye on the new arrival in town.

James Dowland (Jason Merrells) is a Lark Rise boy born and bred. Well, born anyway. As for his experiences since, they stretch a little beyond the sleepy horizons of the Oxfordshire village where the pace of life is so slow they’re often surprised by nightfall. For James has made his fortune “elsewhere” and returns to Candleford intending to open a new hotel.

By now, regular viewers will already have been able to predict how this story plays out. The Pratts see an opportunity to expand their business, Robert Timmins treats the whole affair with an unhealthy dose of scepticism and suspicion, and Dorcas welcomes the handsome new arrival with a winsome smile and a flutter of eyelashes.

But as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I can’t hold its repetitive and formulaic nature against Lark Rise. It is so good-natured, its stories so heartwarming and life-affirming and its cast and crew so effortlessly professional, that when compared to dreck like Demons, Lark Rise shines out like a beacon of high entertainment in a weekend of dark and stormy seas. It is the perfect way to while away an early evening hour and feel good about the world, before facing up to the grim reality of another week at work.