Red Dwarf

“As silky as the first day we got her,” beams Craig Charles’ Lister as he fires up his trusty transporter, Starbug – but can the same be said of this series 12 opener? It takes the lads to a space station where Earth’s most horrific villains (Stalin, Hitler and murderous ancient Roman nymphette Messalina) have been reincarnated, but with their evil scientifically extracted.

With all of time and space at their disposal this kind of history meddling (complete with a deliciously camp Adolf) is perhaps not the most original sci-fi conceit. But the brilliant main characters are so well established – and continue to riff so brilliantly off Doug Naylor’s smart script – you hardly notice in an amiable if un-stretching half-hour. Though it may not be as silky as early series, there’s still life in the old bug yet.