A Place to Call Home is a new show on the Seven network here in Oz. Initially, I dismissed it as a Downton Abbey rip-off – big country house, check. Rich, privileged family, check. Upstairs, downstairs shenanigans, check. Finally, seven or eight weeks into its run, I finally checked it out.

Peeps. I’m shocked. It’s actually good.

A Place to Call Home follows the adventures of Sarah Adams, a nurse returned from Europe to Australia’s shores. Set in the 1950s, Sarah works as a nurse on the ship transporting her from London to Sydney where she met the wealthy Blyth family. While employing her trade with the matriarch of the family, she intrigued the matriarch’s son, as well as his adult children. Quickly, she is extended an invitation of employment in the hospital of the Blyth family’s home town, and after quick scene or two where the show pretends she’s not going to accept, she rocks up in Wandin Valley Inverness. Shenanigans ensue, as they so often do.

What’s noteworthy about this show is how strong the female characters are. Sarah is a marvel, a self-possessed woman who takes crap from no one. The bitchy matriarch, Elizabeth, is bitchy, but you can clearly see what she does, she does for love of her family. The daughter, Anna, is less awesome, but she’s still far from the cliche most shows would portray her as. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the male characters, however half a cast of three-dimensional, well-rounded characters is a HUGE step up for Australian drama, so I’m happy.

There is a distinct Australian-ness to the show which I love. I don’t watch many shows set in Australia and so it’s refreshing to be able to identify so clearly with the characters. They speak how I speak, drink beer from longnecks, listen to the cricket, and just generally be Australian. This is, as they say, bonza.