Blast from the past: Why Columbo is still TV's most loveable detective

With his cigar, crumpled beige mac, battered car, Basset Hound and unseen, but frequently mentioned wife, the late Peter Falk’s shambling homicide detective is as watchable now as when the series launched in the 1970s.

With sly, relentless questioning, the befuddled, but brilliant Columbo, takes down cunning killer after cunning killer, pulling their lies apart one by one.

In every episode you know exactly what’s going to happen before you’ve even sat down to watch it. There’s a crime and a perpetrator. Suspects (often affluent members of high society) carefully cover their tracks and are initially dismissive of Columbo's rambling speeches and apparent ineptitude.

In every episode, he’ll leave the room only to return with the catchphrase "Just one more thing" to ask a critical question. There’s something endlessly satisfying about watching the charismatic Columbo drive the suspect crazy with his endless, faux-apologetic declarations of “I’m just trying to tie up loose ends, sir”. Then the big reveal as he politely unveils them as the murderer. Which all proves you should never judge a one-eyed detective by their rumpled exterior!