More plots than Mistresses could fit into a 10-year run

After four series of controversy-baiting storylines and increasingly demented plot twists, there was always a chance that there would be no sacred cows left for Nip/Tuck’s fifth year to slaughter. But that would be forgetting that show-runner Ryan Murphy is the twisted genius behind Popular, the teen drama so divorced from reality that an entire episode was spun out of a character becoming brunette and being mistaken for Barbra Streisand.

And where better for the series to go than the cosmetic surgery capital of the world – Hollywood? Turning the show on its head, Sean and Christian are now struggling as the little fish in a very big pond and, strapped for cash, they agree to act as consultants on a supremely naff new medical drama called Hearts and Scalpels – a series which bears more than a few similarities to the overly dramatic ER and Grey’s Anatomy.

As well as having to deal with the show’s stars (including Alias’s Bradley Cooper and the excellent Jennier Coolidge) and suggesting plots for the drama’s clueless producer, the duo also manage to become involved with a rather zealous sadomasochist, a suitably unethical talent agent and an insecure former Hollywood heartthrob, setting up more plots than Mistresses could fit into a 10-year run. Plus, there are the usual digs at scientology that has set Nip/Tuck apart from other American series of late.

Yes, it’s trashy – but superior trash that refuses to treat its viewers like idiots. And just look at the guest cast – as well as Cooper and Collidge, there’s AD’s Portia de Rossi, Melrose’s Daphne Zuniga, Tia Carrere, Serena Scott Thomas, Lauren Hutton, John Schneider, Sharon Gless, Rosie O’Donnell… It’s like a Who’s Who for TV addicts, that’s before you take into account that Popular’s demented Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman) will also be popping up later in the run.

Calling any TV programme a guilty pleasure is horribly patronising to both the show and its audience, so I won’t. Nip/Tuck is quality viewing, unafraid to give us the stories and stars we crave.