It’s coming back to our screens after a disappointing fifth series, so is it wise to give the pub a miss tonight in order to get our peepers round David Mitchell and Robert Webb’s latest offerings?

Having developed from a grainy eyeball perspective of the flat-sharing world of moderate middle-manager Mark and jobless joker Jeremy (ahh how the alliteration flows), the quipping and situations have slowly picked up pace as the pair move through their thirties floundering with women, careers and social situations, whilst seeking solace in their Croydon 'lad pad'.

With the addition of characters such as drug-dealing Super Hans and the comely IT geek Dobby, Peep Show has moved from sit-com to a fast paced one-lineathon culminating in scene after scene of internal witticisms disarming the opposition like a first person shooter through the eyes Mark and Jez.

More recent series have branched out to a more regularised sit-com format making the program feel more expensive, but in the process losing it some of its original charm.

But as the boys bounce back on to our screens for episode one of their sixth season, we find the ergonomic keyboard wielding Mark has been promoted to his very own office, eternal dolite Jez has been roped into the JLS Credit racket, and even enterprising Hans has a plan involving a van. So it seems that the El Dude Brothers et al may be getting to grips with their age and place in life. That is, until it all comes crashing down right in front of their eyes, and that's before we’ve even reached the ad break.

So expect laughs at the expense of the Germans, yet more withering looks courtesy of Johnson and anarchy in the business park - complete with his and hers foam ejaculating penises for Mark and Dobby. Definitely one to watch.

Emily Phillips

Episode one of the Dick Wolf-inspired show is entitled "Care" and gets straight into the action. Following L&O's remit of never seeing the main characters outside of their normal working life, we're launched into a storyline involving the abandoned body of a small child and allegations of carbon monoxide poisoning, while also getting a brief but effective introduction to the main players in the ongoing drama. On the "Law" side of the fence, we have DS Ronnie Brooks (Coronation Street's Bradley Walsh), an old-school Cockney copper with a heart of gold and his younger, more impulsive partner DS Matt Devlin (Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber); they're both overseen by their motherly DI Natalie Chandler (Harriet Walter). At the traditional halfway point where the police hand over the reigns to their Crown Prosecution Counterparts (AKA the "Order" side), we meet the justice-seeking Senior Crown Prosecutor James Steel (Ben Daniels), his right-hand woman Crown Prosecutor Alesha Phillips (Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman) and their boss CPS director George Castle (Bill Paterson). As is usually the case with this ever-growing franchise, there's no time for getting to know our heroes - other than little tidbits that help to flesh out the characters - as the crime is the thing.

And a refreshing soap-free approach it is too. In the space of 60 minutes, we learnt more about Britain's criminal justice system than we had in a lifetime (perhaps more of a reflection on our own stunted knowledge than a sign of the show’s success, but still...) and the knowledge that this is a show that you can pick up and enjoy without slavishly devoting yourself to a 20-episode story arc is quite a wondrous thing. Like The Bill before it became too character-driven and infused with a "ripped from the headlines" ethos that keeps each new investigation fresh and exciting, this is a show that, like its illustrious predecessor, will run and run.