Having never been a fan of Cold Feet, I don’t intend to make comparisons between Mutual Friends and that Jimmy Nesbitt vehicle.

For my part, the opening episode of BBC One’s Mutual Friends was more like a Richard Curtis movie. We had the funeral, and even a wild outburst from Marc Warren to rival Hugh Grant’s stock ‘Four Weddings’ performance.

In case you missed it, Warren plays hapless solicitor Martin Grantham who discovers shortly after his best friend’s funeral that his wife had a fling with the not-so-dearly departed. The funeral is the catalyst for Martin’s world falling apart, and the re-introduction of another old-friend, Patrick.

Patrick has his own problems - his business partner is trying to oust him from his company and is now sleeping with his ex-girlfriend. The character of Patrick - played with reckless enthusiasm by Alexander Armstrong - is that of a one-man whirlwind of chaos who brings a much-needed boost of anarchy into his friend’s life.

When you consider how much action was packed into the first episode - an hilarious funeral speech by Patrick which related the moral lessons they learned on a trip to Thailand, the devastating news of Martin’s wife’s affair amid a friend’s suicide and their rapidly-crumbling relationship, Martin’s son’s knack for appearing in the room just when something scandalous was being said (I counted 3 times), and the brilliant scene where Patrick and Martin broke into his ex’s flat and stole back an engagement ring, crapping in his business partner’s shoe for good measure. Oops, I almost forgot about the photo shoot that Patrick organised at Martin’s house!

The performances of Warren and Armstrong are most notable, obviously. Warren manages to do a great job of playing down-at-heel Martin, and Armstrong’s character is an off the wall but totally likeable character.

Keeley Hawes manages to put distance between herself and he DI Alex Drake from Ashes To Ashes. She plays Martin’s mildly adulterous wife, Jen - a dissatisfied housewife who seems more concerned about keeping the news of her affair secret than about the hurt she’s caused Martin. For the moment, she’s in the ‘baddie’ camp as far as I’m concerned, but I suspect her character will develop more over the coming episodes! Naturally, I disagree with this analysis!

The writers - Richard Pinto and Anil Gupta - have left enough questions unanswered to have us all tuning in next week for the latest instalment. Forget the comparisons with Cold Feet - Mutual Friends has plenty of character all on its own. It’s already on ’series link’ on Unreality Primetime’s Sky+