Warehouse 13 has been described as The X-Files meets Moonlighting and Indiana Jones, which sounds about right. Remember that impossibly large warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Well, you could fit that umpteen times over into this one.

Secret Service agents Pete Latt­imer (Eddie McClintock - Bones, Desperate Housewives) and Myka Berin (Joanne Kelly - Vanished, Supernatural) are pulled from their regular duties after saving the life of an international diplomat, and assigned to the mysterious Warehouse 13 in South Dakota, a government hiding place for all manner of supernatural and extraterrestrial artefacts, overseen by crotchety Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek). When Berin and Lattimer are assigned to retrieve some missing artefacts and to investigate reports of new ones they soon discover that not only is the truth out there, it’s been out there for centuries and all over the place.

The growing ensemble cast is a group of trustworthy, familiar faces you’re happy to spend time with once a week. Kelly and McClintock play Myka and Peter as a couple of agency career divas, their competitiveness only outstripped by the growing jealousy they exhibit when observing members of the opposite sex garn­ering too much of their partner’s time. They can’t decide whether to punch each other or to jump into bed together. The chemistry between the two leads is crucial, and Lattimer’s hunk with the sixth sense vibe and Berin’s bright eyes, open collar shirts tight across the chest, and Pre-Raphaelite curls cascading about her in unarmed combat, make for a winning pair.

As episodes progress, there are hints of a more sinister dimens­ion to the set-up. In ‘Burnout’, a former agent warns Myka that the warehouse will swallow her life up if she doesn’t get out. There’s no clear cut story arc, even with the inclusion of the recurring vill­ain MacPherson (Roger Rees) in ‘Implosion’, one of the best, which revolves around the recovery of a Samurai sword which can bend light and render its wielder invisible.

The Steampunk revival is clearly still with us, with the show’s array of gadgets offering a splicing of Victoriana and advanced technology doused in supernatural properties. Episodes are essentially standalones – one revolves around Alice’s mirror, another around Edgar Allan Poe’s notebook – and whether this trend continues into future episodes remains to be seen.

The series proved to be a hit when first aired on the Syfy channel and has been renewed for a second series. Anyone expecting Devil’s Food Cake should look elsewhere. Warehouse 13 is a soufflé, and for most of its first, 12-episode series (including its double-length pilot), serves up a series of tasty, but never over-sweet, SF entertainment desserts.