TUCKED away in the outer reaches of terrestrial television that's Five in case you hadn't guessed something unusual is happening.

You may find this hard to believe but there's a comedy series which is actually quite funny.

Now I'm not going so far as to suggest that it will be looked back on in time to come as being ground-breaking or achieve cult status with lines being repeated verbatim, but at least Suburban Shootout is different and always a good thing for a comedy at times amusing.

The premise is a good one, the seemingly idyllic world of suburbia is actually a hotbed of violence and gang rule.

But it's not males with no necks and a liking for gold jewellery who rule the roost, it's the designer-clad female of the species who operate a Mafia-like stranglehold over the community.

Anna Chancellor, a fine usually serious' actress, is clearly having a ball as the Ms Big of the operation, a stiletto-wearing pyscho.

Much of the humour stems from the shock value of seeing these supposedly genteel ladies beating hell out of each other.

The volence is fairly extreme and the language perhaps explains the late night time slot.

But for something that's a bit different and is much more enjoyable than the neurotic, syrupy inhabitants of Wisteria Lane, then Suburban Shootout is well worth at least one viewing.