If you live in the UK, you might well not have heard of Adrian Monk - you can blame awful scheduling for that...

Monk is a fictional American detective (played by Tony Shalhoub), he worked for the San Fransisco Police Department until the murder of his wife Trudy in 1997, her death causes him to have a breakdown. Monk is granted psychiatric leave from his position but finds it incredibly difficult to function in everyday life, what were once manageable phobias have become fully blown disorders, Monk is devastated about his loss and this feeling is exasperated by his wife's murder being the only case he isn't able to solve.

Monk eventually returns to work aided by his friend and nurse, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram) as a freelance detective/consultant to his former department in the hope of convincing his one time boss, Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), to allow him to return to the force. Monk assists on the cases that the police are unable to solve. He is the classic flawed genius, his photographic memory and amazing ability to piece tiny clues together comes at a price - his obsessive compulsive tendencies and genuine fears of everything from germs to heights.

When arriving at a crime scene, Monk's natural reaction is to clean it up, he shakes hands with people but hastily cleans them with a wet wipe afterwards and if he spots anything uneven, odd or slanted he is compelled to put it right. The show derives its light-hearted humour from his disposition, in one episode (Mr Monk Goes To Mexico), Monk takes cases and cases of the only brand of water he drinks - Sierra Springs, to Mexico and when the cases are stolen, he goes thirsty for three days! The humour though, is never mocking of Monk's condition and in fact the show is the finest depiction of OCD that I've seen on television.

The cases themselves are remarkably complex for their 40 minute duration and more along the exaggerated 'how did they do it' lines of Jonathan Creek than traditional 'whodunit' dramas.

Formerly screened in the UK on both Hallmark and BBC2 on Saturday afternoons, the show has now moved to a Monday to Friday 2.35pm slot on BBC1 - sandwiched between the dire Doctors and erm, the institution that is Chucklevision. Please then, if you have the opportunity to see or record this show, do so. It's worthy of your attention and support and deserves so much more than a daytime filler slot before CBeebies.

A final note to thank Jon who first introduced me to Monk (and Peep Show for that matter); I am eternally grateful and hope that my recommendation of Smiley Culture's 'Police Officer' was equally life changing. (What?!)