What is there to like about Shameless (Channel 4, Tuesday, 27 January, 10pm?) really? Most of the characters are horrible, they’re violent, thieving scumbags, sponging off the world and constantly up to the eyeballs on booze and drugs. Right? Wrong. Fact is, Shameless has one of those rare commodities – community. So believable is the heart and soul of this community that you could easily convince yourself that these people actually exist. They probably do, somewhere. It’s this living, beating thing that has made sure that arses are promptly on the couch whenever Frank Gallagher and his cohorts stumble onto our screens.

Related: More Shameless on TV Scoop

Last night, series six kicked off with the usual mix of realistic language (ie, lots of swearing and slang) and surreal devices. Shameless, like no other show, has the ability to switch between hyper-real and other dimensions with the click of a finger. In the past, we’ve seen weird dream sequences and Frank Gallagher getting shown around a world where he’s dead. Now, we’ve got a baby called Stella who can talk to her parents via telepathy.

Elsewhere, critics have bemoaned the new Shameless for being Not As Good As It Used To Be. Bollocks. Even if that was the case, a third-rate Shameless is still leagues ahead of most other shows on the box. Perhaps, in some eyes, it’s a victim of it’s own success? For me, it’s still riotous telly worth tuning in for.

That’s because the Chatsworth estate is like the life and times of Caligula. It’s full of sex, debauchery, fist fights, tragedy, weird goings on, stealing, cursing… with added humanity. While there’s an argument that shows like this perpetuate the myth that all us Northerners haven’t got a pot to piss in, but deep down, are lovely people, there’s a reason that everyone loves Shameless, and it’s cousin, The Royle Family. Aside from the allegories and clever-clever reasons that pundits may give, the fact is, both shows are always stupidly fun.

In one hour, aside from a talking baby, we had Ian knocked over and losing his memory, forgetting he’s gay, Debbie’s 16th birthday and now legal to do the things she’s been getting up to anyway, an attempted suicide from a copper… it was a packed show (although, not nearly as packed as the second one – as seen on E4 last night – which is well worth tuning in for) which demanded your attention.

Underneath the hard exterior, Shameless always has a gooey centre, and in the hands of any other show, this return could’ve been a schmaltzfest. This simply isn’t possible with this lot. As ever, it was fun and blackly comic. Whether this is a vintage season or not, it’s good to have Shameless back on the box. Very good.