TV TRAGIC: We can't help but love Aussie Craig McLachlan as a maverick country doctor who solves crime through his role as police surgeon.

And it's just as easy to love the Dr Blake Mysteries, a home-grown crime series that's an excellent excuse to stay at home on Friday nights.

It's Ballarat in the 1950s and Lucien Blake has returned home to take over his father's practice.

Scarred by war, especially his time as a POW, he's stubborn, persistent, outspoken with new ideas and determined to stand up for what he thinks is right, even when it puts him in conflict with the establishment.

Set in an Australia that's facing social upheaval, the Dr Blake Mysteries blends intriguing murders with gentle social comment.

In season two, the series has settled into an even pace with a touch of the Murdoch Mysteries about it.

It's nicely written with stand-out performances from its main characters.

McLachlan portrays Lucien Blake, a man with a somewhat mysterious past, as brittle but warm and sensitive.

However the revelation is Nadine Garner as his housekeeper and sometime partner in solving crime, Jean.

She's multi-layered, a sensible foil to Blake's eccentricity, who can express so much with just a twitch of an eyebrow or a frown. Old-fashioned she might be on the surface, but Jean is much more.

All in all, the Blake household is a delightful mix of personalities, from Blake to Jean to lodger and independent district nurse Mattie.

Season two of The Dr Blake Mysteries continues at 8.30pm on ABC 1 tonight (Friday) with another interesting puzzle.

In episode four, pedestrians on Lydiard St on a busy Saturday night are horrified when a man falls from the Colonists' Club onto the footpath. Blake realises the club's balcony railing is too high for this to be an accident.

WORTH A LOOK

• FAT TONY AND CO, Sunday, 8.40pm, WIN

This is based on the story of Australia's most successful drug baron, Tony Mokbel, from the day he quit cooking pizza in favour of cooking drugs, to the heyday of his $140 million dollar drug empire, all the way through to his arrest in an Athens café and his whopping 22-year sentence in Victoria's maximum security prison.

Robert Mammone stars as Tony Mokbel with Vince Colosimo as Alphonse Gangitano and Gyton Grantley as Carl Williams.

• DOWNTON ABBEY, Sunday, March 2, 9pm on SEVEN

Emerging from grief, Mary (Michelle Dockery) starts to take an interest in the running of the estate, but is met with resistance from Robert.

As Molesley's fortunes worsen, Bates hatches a plan to help him. Out for a bit of fun, Rose gets into a sticky situation at a tea dance in York.

• REVENGE, Monday, March 3, 8.40pm, SEVEN

Conrad hires PR mastermind Bizzy Preston to restore the Grayson family name, while Emily sinks her teeth deeper into her plan and Nolan has a revenge-agenda of his own.

• SECRETS AND LIES, 8.30pm, new series on TEN

Secrets and Lies is a gripping six-part series that tells the story of Ben Gundelach (played by Martin Henderson - The Ring, Little Fish, Bride and Prejudice and Devil's Knot), an every-day family man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect.

• THE BLACKLIST, Wednesday, March 5, 8.45pm, SEVEN

This is fast-paced, action/drama and it stars James Spader (what more do you want?).

A femme fatale from Red's (Spader) past sets the FBI on a hunt, requiring Liz (Megan Boone) to use hidden talents.