Imagine, if you will, that Peter Petrelli and Matt Parkman from Heroes have moved to Toronto and are hiding out from the Company as ambulance drivers. Peter, still assuming his paramedic role, has taken Matt's powers and can hear people's, and has convinced him he is Turkish.

Now throw into this mix Eliza Dushku's show Tru Calling – minus the talking dead - and you get an idea of what The Listener is about.

Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik), who really does have a Peter Petrelli look about him, is a paramedic who can hear people's thoughts, which comes in handy for his job.

Together with his partner Osman "Oz" Bey (Enis Esmer) – who does look a bit like Matt Parkman – manage to find time between saving people's lives to also help the police – or more precisely, the ridiculously good-looking female detective Charlie Marks (Lisa Marcos) – to solve the crime of the week, using Logan's mind-reading skills.

Initially, it is a crime-of-the-week format, with a few back story reveals but as the series develops more of the back story is revealed, which certainly adds more interest to the show as it heads to the climactic 13th episode, season finale. Similar to Dollhouse, the character development is a bit slow as each episode focuses on solving the crime at hand.

It may lack Whedon's finesse, but if you can stick with it through the first half of the season, the perseverance does start to pay off, even if it does lack the polish of similar US shows, it is not ashamed to wear its Canadian credentials on its sleeve. Despite its relatively poor ratings in the US, the show's Canadian producers have been commissioned to do a second season.

The Listener is out now on DVD from Universal-Playback and can be bought from Play and all good retailers.

We have three box-sets of The Listener Season One to give away, courtesy of Universal Playback. Click on the link below to enter the competition.