Now, call me old fashioned, but TV seemed so much better in the 1950s and 60s. Granted, it wasn't in high definition or even colour. There was no stereo sound, and to make a recording took a massive VCR the size of a washing machine. But, between episodes of Tonight and Doctor Findlay's Casebook, our nation's passion for science, astronomy and all things galactic were very much on display - and The Sky at Night and Doctor Who were the result.

Now, 50 years on from these heady (if grainy) televisual heydays, one may recall a kinder, gentler TV era courtesy of this retro and highly amusing device styled to look just like an alien ray gun. And pay homage to all things vintage, still on TV to this day.

The device in question is not, you may be pleased to learn, a high intensity particle blaster, but an earthly television remote control. Put it within your grasp and it will - once 'trained' by your original remote - perform a limited range of simple functions, such as switching your television on and off, changing channels, or increasing the level of the sound.

Put your traditional grey remote controller to one side, for there's a new digital sheriff in town. It's white. With green knobbly bits. It has a trigger. And it fires magic infra-red bullets. Cybermen take note. Surrender to its power. And bow down in awe.