We are in our final week filming the television show I work on. Late Night Mash on Dave has been enjoyable. It’s a longer run this time with eight episodes in the series.

While working on the show, not only do I have to avoid the carbs so I can fit in the grey suit my character wears, I also spend a lot of time obsessing about the news and it’s been a difficult time lately.

I thought I’d find a news story that can make us feel a little hopeful. For me it’s the fact that William Shatner went into space. I grew up watching repeats of the original series Star Trek with Captain James T Kirk exploring the stars. I am happy I lived long enough to see life reflect art.

Of all the franchises to become real, Star Trek is a good one. It would be more worrying for the actors who were in the Jaws films if they got to live out the fantasy in reality.

I understand that it is a gimmick. We don’t need to send Kirk into space to further the pursuit of exploring space. We don’t even need to explore space. We could be better served by spending those huge sums of money on improving life for people on this planet.

On that issue I agree with Prince William. The Duke of Cambridge said: “We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.”

It’s a sound point. It is far easier to help the Earth than try to make Mars a place where humanity could live. It’s a fixer-upper for sure.

The Prince and I have a lot in common. Mainly our views on space travel and a similar hairline, but I am not in charge of what Jeff Bezos spends his money on. If he’s using it to send TV stars into space I might as well enjoy it.

William Shatner certainly enjoyed it. He became the oldest person to go into space. Eventually there will be loads of older people heading up there in their rockets, with the indicator left on, doing half of the escape velocity. Right now Shatner is a record breaker.

He called the 10 minutes he spent on his suborbital flight "the most profound experience". That’s coming from a man who did a version of Pulp’s Common People, so he knows what he’s talking about.

At a time when so much of the news is saddening it’s nice to see a story that is ultimately pointless but positive.