It’s been a long time since we have had a good old fashioned ‘whodunit’ style television show on our television sets, but the ABC plan on changing that starting from this Friday.

Sleuth 101 is the new mystery comedy series which gives viewers a basic murder plot, mixed in with a bunch of key ingredients such as victims, suspects, red herrings, motives, detections, re-evaluations and revelations.

In the end the cast come out for a tell all account of what really happened, who killed who, and how it was done.

Sleuth 101 is much in the same vein as the early 90s smash hit, Cluedo, which had a live set and a bunch of crosses back to the studio host, who gave an update on forensic results, giving hints and clues to the audience.

The new series will be hosted by Kiwi turned Aussie Cal Wilson, and will feature a starring role by funny man Dave O’Neill.

O’Neill will be joined by a list of recognizable faces in the first week, including John Wood as the patriarchal victim, and various members of his vengeful ‘family’ played by Denise Drysdale, Robyn Butler and others.

Sleuth 101 includes musical and visual references to genre hallmarks, including James Bond, with a sense of cheek and caricature performances from its rotating ensemble. Wilson is well suited as the not-too-serious host -but if the audience laughs were sweetened with a laugh track, it feels a little too earnest.

Sleuth 101 airs this Friday at 8PM on ABC1.