Red Dwarf

It’s the series finale and the crew is afflicted by a tear in time, which sees Chris Barrie’s hologrammatical horror Rimmer sample alternative lives in various universes and honestly reflect on the inner workings of what passes for his soul. The conceit may not be entirely original, but it’s put to clever and witty effect as we encounter a new-look Cat, and Lister in the intriguing fresh guise of a suave careerist. It also allows for a couple of old ghosts of Red Dwarf past to return – their identities have been leaked online, but only a true smeg head (or Rimmer himself) would spoil the surprise in these pages.

The other good news is that writer Doug Naylor is hard at work on series 13. Time may be playing tricks on the Dwarfers, but the hoary old space-hoppers just keep doing their thing.