Bridget Christie's self-penned sitcom is certainly distinctive, while at the same time touching on quite a few familiatr sitcom tropes. Christie plays Linda, a middle aged woman who is starting to be forgetful. Could it be early onset dementia, she wonders. She goes to her doctor with a list of issues and he immediately suggests she is going through the menopause. Linda was probably thinking about changing her life anyway, but this is the trigger to carpe the diem out of the years she has left, dust off her motorbike and shake things up.

Which of course means leaving her husband (played by Omid Djalili) shortly after her fiftieth birthday. It's not a difficult decision, given that his favourite hobby seems to be catching sausages lobbed at him in the garden as if he is a puppy. In fact all the men here seem similarly feckless. The doctor has forgotten to remove his bicycle helmet in the surgery. The only man in the opening episode who has any redeeming features seems to be old Tom (Paul Whitehouse) and even he initially wants to bother Linda in the pub, which doesn't go down very well.

The theme – or one of them – is Linda reclaiming lost time. At home she has been keeping a meticulous ledger of how much housework she does. Now she just wants to live in the forest, ride her bike, read her book, climb trees, have a quiet pint and not be hassled. It's one of the ironies that just at an age when she is becoming invisible she can't get any peace.

Along the way there are some great gags and Christie's performance is peerless. It is not above resorting to sitcom cliche too when appropriate. After Linda moves into her run-down caravan she says she definitely won't be doing any housework. Cut to a scene of Linda...doing some housework.

The Change has a welcome distinctive feel for a C4 comedy. At times it recalls the work of writer Dennis Potter, who grew up in the Forest of Dean. But maybe most of all it has echoes of the quirky, gentle mood of Detectorists. If you like the sun-dappled folklore elements of that you'll probably enjoy The Change.

Big shout out to the supporting cast here too, which also includes familiar faces Liza Tarbuck, Jim Howick, Susan Lynch, Monica Dolan and Jerome Flynn.

One thing to underline. You don't have to be in Christie's demographic to appreciate this series. It is both nuanced and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Change, Wednesdays, 10pm, C4.

Picture: C4