If the Landmark Sitcom Season was planning to promote edgy modern comedy the wait is still on. Home From Home might not be as old hat as Are You Being Served? but there is nothing very new about it. 

Johnny Vegas and Joanna Page play happy couple Neil and Fiona Hackett who have bought a run-down lodge in the Lake District which turns out to be opposite a fancy lodge owned by perfect Robert (Adam James) & snooty Penny Dillon (Emilia Fox). The Dillons are everything the Hacketts are not. Robert is stylish and southern, Neil is rotund and northern. Robert can even do a better Foghorn Leghorn impression that Neil.

The scene is quickly set then for a comedy of manners than occasionally edges away from sitcomland into Mike Leigh territory. But frankly it doesn’t stray very far. We’ve seen this kind of culture clash comedy a million times over the years, from Love They Neighbour to The Good Life to anything with Wendy Craig in it.

New writers Chris Fewtrell and Simon Crowther don't bring much that feels fresh to the party but what they do have in their favour is lovely vista and some great actors delivering some excellent performances. Vegas in particular stretches himself in a way he never does in Benidorm as amiable Neil, who wants to turn their money pit into a dream bolt-hole for his family. Vegas has the talent to make Neil believable even in a hackneyed scene when he attempts to fix a rooftop TV aerial with inevitable consequences (no Rod Hull jokes please, this is far to gentle for that).

There isn’t that much here that will scare the horses but it is worth watching for the cast and the scenery. This could easily become a series but not one that would be groundbreaking in any way whatsover. In its own way Home From Home is as much a step backwards for TV comedy as the remake of Porridge.