Just when you think the BBC is hitting an all-time low along comes Small Prophets to save the day, a programme so warm, touching and funny that it singlehandedly justifies the licence fee. Well done writer/creator/co-star Mackenzie Crook and the entire cast.

Pearce Quigley stars as Michael Sleep, appropriately surnamed as he seems to be sleepwalking through life since the mysterious disappearance of his partner Clea many years ago. He works in a faceless DIY superstore where his boss is the nitpicking pigtailed Gordon (Crook). At home he hasn't tidied the lounge since Clea disappeared or trimmed the front garden, much to the chagrin of his politely irritable neighbour (Jon Pointing) and wife (Sophie Willan). Meanwhile Clea's skint brother Roy wants the house...

Between work and domesticity Michael visits his father Brian (Michael Palin) in a care home. Brian passes his days making elaborate gadgets and while his mind is not as sharp as it was he does think he has a way of finding Clea - by growing little creatures in bottles that can only tell the truth...

I've only seen the first episode but there are strong hints that strange things are about to happen. Everything feels almost too ordinary. But Crook has a way of making the ordinary out of the ordinary, whether it is the way Michael tinkers with his breakfast Shreddies or the way he glides along in his vintage Ford Capri. There even seems to be something magical about the way Gordon fiddles with his greasy pigtail. Oh, and there's a nice friendship between Michael and young colleague Kacey (Lauren Patel).

Small Prophets is so instantly engaging and effortlessly welcoming it's the kind of sitcom that you want to climb into and curl up in. It might not be laugh out loud, and does have its sad, bittersweet moments, but it is certainly smile out loud. It's not cosy and safe, it's really quite wonderful. Crook, of course, previously created Detectorists and this has a similar feel, right down to the eerie, pastoral folk soundtrack. It might be set partly in an anonymous suburban workplace, but it is light years away from Gareth and The Office. Small Prophets, big returns. 

Small Prophets, Mondays, 10pm, BBC Two and all available on iPlayer.