TV Review: Packed to the Rafters

Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson star in Packed To The Rafters. Photo / Supplied

Dread fills the heart when a humorous show comes packaged with one of those cutesy titles that plays on the name of the main character.

You can't help thinking this cannot be good: with a title that twee, what are the rest of the jokes going to be like?

Perhaps the ploy doesn't have the same connotations in Oz, a land innocent of the likes of Melody Rules and For the Love of Mike, and from whence comes Packed to the Rafters (TV One, Tuesdays, 8.30pm).

Even so, the show, with its premise of the Rafters' empty nest immediately filling up again as hard times strike, does seem a throwback to the old-fashioned family sit com, although its one-hour episodes probably qualify as a dramedy.

But you have to hand it to the Aussies, perhaps it's those thousands of kilometres of straight and sunny highways in the lucky country, but they certainly produce good, warm and friendly, middle-of-the-road drama.

There's nothing here to scare the punters, unless you object to Viagra jokes, and the whole thing's rather fun.

Dave and Julie Rafter are an ornery, suburban couple who have finally got the kids off their hands in time to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. The last one's moved out and it's time for the parents to party - if they can manage to stay awake.

The jokes are standard issue sitcom stuff: Dave takes one too many Viagra to celebrate his anniversary night and ends up in A&E, getting treated by a woman who turns out to be his son's new flatmate.

Granddad, grieving for his late wife, has a panic attack, ends up in hospital in one of her frocks and gets taken for a cross-dresser.

But just as the Rafter parents are getting used to their freedom, the house fills up again: son Nathan and girlfriend need to save money for a house deposit; granddad needs care and daughter Rachel washes up on the doorstep to escape an abusive boyfriend.

And then Dave loses his job: yes, this is indeed telly for recessionary times.

One thing you can usually say about Aussie drama is, how would they make it without us? The two leads in the show have Kiwi backgrounds.

Rebecca Gibney plays Julie Rafter as all user-friendly mumsiness but somehow still brings a touch of glam. She's also the show's narrator - an irritating trend since Desperate Housewives, but here, thankfully free from all that artificial archness.

Erik Thomson again proves he's tailor-made for the likeable Aussie bloke, as he did in The Alice. And the show is given a boost with ever-appealing Aussie comedy stalwart Michael Caton (Dad in The Castle) as Granddad.

The humour might be a tad clichéd but the show is charmingly uncomplicated. And it's livened up with such touches as best use of a neon sign: the wedding anniversary family photo outside a Chinese restaurant is artfully arranged so Shanghai Express reads Sex - just what's on the old married folks' minds.

Overall, however, there doesn't promise to be much new here but this crowded house still looks like it's going to be an appealing place to relax and hang out.