Trailer: Showtime's MASTERS OF SEX

Showtime have a new drama debuting the same night Homeland returns, called Masters of Sex. It's a provocative title for what should be a provocative drama from Michelle Ashord (John Adams, The Pacific), about two sex researchers in the 1950s, played by Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) and Lizzy Caplan (Party Down), based on a biography of their real-life counterparts called Masters of Sex: The Life & Times of William Masters & Virginia Johnson.

It's one of those shows with a premise you can't envisage as a long-running TV show, which in some ways is the most interesting thing about it. My prediction is the titillating background will be used similarly to how Mad Men uses advertising: on paper it's what the show is about, but it's really just a fun backdrop and a way to explore great characters. I'm also keen to see Caplan in a more "serious" role, seeing as she's best-known for comedy and silliness (including True Blood), and I doubt Sheen will put a foot wrong. Unless he lapses into a slight Tony Blair impersonation, which might kill the sexy mood.

MASTERS OF SEX premieres 23 September on Showtime, after HOMELAND. Channel 4 have the UK rights, but there's no air-date yet.