Give sitcom a chance to stand alone.

Dossa And Joe (BBC2)

Caroline Aherne is going to hate the reviews for her new series. They are, at the very least, going to mention her previous hit The Royle Family.

Many will go on to judge it against that award-winning comedy. This is difficult not to do as Dossa And Joe is much the same observational comedy.

Not a laugh a minute but a gradual drip, drip, drip of jokes and funny remarks. And Joe is a slob with a beer belly who lounges around in his armchair. Any similarity to any Royle personage is purely coincidental, I'm sure.

The difference is the setting. Having fled to Australia and retirement (or so she claimed), writer-director Aherne has set her new series there. Instead of a family, she concentrates on a couple, whose long marriage is going through a rough patch.

We begin with Dossa and Joe on the couch, seeking help from a counsellor. Well, Dossa is. Joe's attitude is to the adviser is: "you carry on, love, and cure Dossa".

Those sessions are intercut with the pair with friends and workmates. It's another sitting around and talking comedy but with mostly Australian accents (Dossa has an Irish one for reasons so far unexplained).

There are references to their son and daughter, who will surely play a bigger role in future episodes, as well as Russell Crowe and members of the royal - not Royle - family as "juicy fruits". Michael Caton and Anne Charleson (Madge from Neighbours) are the titular pair, carefully balancing comedy and drama. Pleasant enough, but I can't see Dossa and Joe working their way into the national consciousness as Aherne's Royle family did.