Spirited - the new series starring Claudia Karvan

Described as “a romantic look at life and love after death with a rock ‘n’ roll twist”, the new offering broadcast on Foxtel and AUSTAR's W channel is called Spirited.

It’s from the producers of Love My Way, so you know it’s gonna be good.

Kim Vecera and Hugh Marks are executive producers of Spirited and since Kim joined Foxtel as Head of Production - which involved supervision of local programming on key channels, including FOX8 - credit highlights have included Executive Producer of Australia's Next Top Model, Love Bytes, Dangerous, and seasons one and two of probably the best Australian TV series, the multi award-winning Love My Way.

If you’re expecting similar viewing to Love May Way, Spirited will instead surprise you as a quirky, blackly funny exploration of love, death and life seen through the lives of a group of vastly different people, all of whom are complicated and a tad neurotic.

It’s not the Karvan you know; instead her new character Suzy Darling is an uptight and confused dentist and mother of two – who’s pretty adept at cart-wheeling – going through a marriage crisis. Enter the weirdly wonderful British actor Matt King, who plays the from-the-dead Henry Mallet, who may well be the physical representation of Suzy’s repressed subconscious desires and unmet physical pining she never knew existed.

Says Karvan: “I think Spirited is like The Ghost and Mrs Muir meets The Odd Couple, it’s playful, romantic and a little absurd,” she said. “We’ve got a wonderfully talented cast together and we’re happy to be the first cab off the rank in the W channel’s plans for original drama.”

Karvan is both a star and producer of Spirited, again working alongside John Edwards and Jacquelin Perske, the brains behind the excellent Love My Way.

Rodger Corser also stars as Suzy’s bewildered husband. The eight episode series is escapist viewing – the first episode is spent getting your head around the other-worldly Henry and his relationship to Suzy.

Described as a show with “a lightness of touch and yet it also encompasses the absurdity of modern dentistry, explores the curious world of parenting, celebrates the punk aesthetic and depicts a unique vision of the spirit world”, it’s like nothing you’ve seen before. Give it a go: you might be surprised at where it takes you.

Spirited starts on Wednesday August 25 at 7.30pm on Foxtel and AUSTAR’s W channel.