Bill Shore is “mentally unbalanced,” “a crap human being” and “a dick.” And that's just what his wife has to say about him.

A successful plastic surgeon, Bill has it all: a thriving practice in London, a beautiful home, a breathtakingly expensive new car – and a family he treats like old furniture. Now, he faces a stark choice: either get his priorities straight, or lose the only people in the world who love him enough to put up with him.

In Distant Shores, a six-part British comedy-drama on VisionTV, Bill and his family are transported for six months to the remote island of Hildasay (population: 326). The mission: spending quality time together – whether they want to or not.

Peter Davison ( The Last Detective , Doctor Who , All Creatures Great and Small ) stars as Bill Shore, a gifted surgeon and an incurable misanthrope with a brusque bedside manner that makes Dr. Gregory House look like a fuzzy puppy. (“People is what's killing this profession,” he tells a colleague. “If it wasn't for people this would be a perfectly acceptable living.”)

Samantha Bond (who has co-starred as Miss Moneypenny in the last four James Bond features) plays his long-suffering wife Lisa.

Offered a six-month veterinary research post on Hildasay, she convinces Bill to take on the temporary role of island doctor. What neither realizes is that the locals have no intention of letting him leave. Hildasay is a glorious landscape of pristine beaches, rolling meadows and pure, clean sea air. Cell phones don't work, the biggest attraction is the local fair, and the islanders are unfailingly generous and cheery. For Bill, in other words, it's hell on earth.

Claudia Renton and Matthew Thomas-Davies co-star as the Shore kids: Kate, a moody, death-obsessed teenage Goth, and Harvey, a dreamy youngster who understandably prefers his invisible imaginary dad “Malcolm” to real thing.

Emma Fildes is Laney, Bill's relentlessly sunny nurse, and Tristan Gemmill plays her husband Duncan, a soft-spoken farmer who develops an attraction to Lisa – much to their mutual consternation. Justin McDonald also stars as Ben, a local teen with a big secret.

Distant Shores proved a major hit for Britain's ITV last winter, attracting an average of 5.2 million viewers weekly during its premiere run. Plans for a second season are now in the works.