Born And Bred (BBC1)

Where The Heart Is (ITV)

EARLY Sunday evening TV has officially been designated a comfort zone. The unwritten rule is nothing should be shown that's likely to frighten the horses or children, although both those elements may feature prominently in the proceedings.

In the cosy tradition of Heartbeat and Monarch Of The Glen, let's welcome Born And Bred - a cross between those two hits, Last Of The Summer Wine and Dr Finlay's Casebook. Just as there isn't an original idea to be found in the entire episode, so the cast comprises familiar faces from other series. The Likely Lads, Coronation Street, Brookside, Keeping Up Appearances, Only Fools And Horses, The Cops, Pie In The Sky, Howard's Way and, of course, EastEnders are all represented.

The Sunday night formula demands a rural setting, allowing for ample shots of spectacular green scenery. Born And Bred throws in steam trains, men in braces, Northernish accents and fried black pudding. To top it all, the makers set it in the 1950s, which ups the nostalgia level to almost unbearable wish-we-were-back-there levels.

The central, slightly antagonistic relationship focuses on old-style doctor James Bolam and his newly-returned-from-Manchester medic son Michael French. It's a bit like James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small, without the need for anyone to put their hand up a cow's backside. "When I started, doctoring was all about people," moans Bolam. He adds that, since the arrival of the National Health Service, it's all reports this, letters that - a comment given unexpectedly topical significance in the light of this week's government announcements.

A chaotic wedding allowed for the introduction of far too many characters for a series designed to run only six weeks. An awful lot happened. The village idiot fell off a ladder, a snooty gent fell in the river, French's daughter fell for the local hunk, a cart of coffins fell in the river and everyone had a jolly good singsong at the pub. I fully expect the entire cast to fall in the river in coming weeks.

We left father and son agreeing to work together, running the local cottage hospital. "Trust me, what could possibly go wrong?," said someone. Believe me, viewers can anticipate exactly what's likely to happen in coming weeks - although a trailer for the next episode featuring a deglamorised Denise Welch was a shock.

The BBC is confident enough to schedule Born And Bred against that established piece of Sunday night feelgood fluff, Where The Heart Is, with its district nurses, illness of the week, jolly factory workers and rolling countryside. This has survived the departure of original stars Sarah Lancashire and Pam Ferris, and is gearing up to losing stalwarts Tony Haygarth and Thomas Craig. But enough faces from other series (the entire cast of Coronation Street seems to be heading to Skelthwaite to join refugees from Men Behaving Badly and May To September) remain to satisfy viewers.

The series is totally predictable as it tugs the heartstrings and serves up lovable characters seemingly isolated from the big bad outside world. Unlike viewers, characters don't have to face up to real life on Monday morning.