Weird and Wonderful

In the US battle between British ex-soap stars, Bionic Woman Michelle Ryan has been given a right kicking by an un-dead Anna Friel and Pushing Daisies. The ex Brookside fugitive has effortlessly made the jump into the big time with a flawless American accent, whitened teeth, luminous personality and genuine 'X Factor'.

Indeed, Friel is one of many factors in the success story of the best new TV show since Heroes, which starts on ITV this week.

Try to imagine the dreamy visuals of a Tim Burton film – the pilot was actually directed by Men in Black's Barry Sonnenfeld – mixed with the quirky, quotable wit of the Coen Brothers, the twist-laden criminal investigations of CSI and the old fashioned romance of Disney movies. This combo really shouldn't work, but it does.

The premise, explained in the first episode's memorable flashback opening (warmly narrated by Jim 'Harry Potter Audio Book' Dale) is thus. As a child, Ned discovers he is able to revive the dead with a single touch.

There are two major drawbacks to this miraculous gift. If they are brought back for more than a minute, someone else in the vicinity must die in their place; and, even worse for him, Ned can never touch them again or they will be dead once more, forever.

Without wishing to give away too many hows and whys, grown-up, emotional introvert Ned becomes a pie maker, teaming up with a cynical private detective to solve crimes and claim rewards by reviving corpses on the mortuary slab and asking them 'whodunnit?'. This is all bizarre enough until his childhood sweetheart is murdered and he revives her. For longer than sixty seconds.

A love story without physical contact is the lure of this magical multi-genre show, which looks set to grab critical plaudits and audience adoration over here, the way it did across the Atlantic. Lee Pace as soft-centred Ned and our Anna as vivacious Chuck are the cutest couple on TV since Hiro and that doomed waitress in Heroes.

Each week's weird and wonderful crime investigations affect and reflect their impossible romance (remember, they can't kiss, hold hands or do anything else, ever!) in surprising and often poetic ways.