Given the calumnies being aimed at Star Trek, I should mention that Doctor Who is back on the air in the UK and a dashed fine show it is too. Which just goes to show that even the BBC can do right every now and then.

Harlan Ellison, author of the finest Star Trek episode ever, once said, “Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurantist drivel; Star Trek can turn your brains to puree of bat guano; and the greatest science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who! And I’ll take you all on, one-by-one or all in a bunch to back it up!” (I’m not making this up). Having seen most of the new series, I think he’d be even more emphatic this time round.