Lexa Doig

OK, it's a science-fiction show, but there's more to Andromeda than spandex, unconvincing plots and nerd-packed tribute conventions. Its star, Lexa Doig, illustrates the wider appeal with one simple anecdote: 'There was an episode in the first series where they had me in a studded leather bikini top, disco pants and these little go-go boots inside a cage,' she recalls. 'I went to one of the show's executives and took issue. He said - and I quote - 'Lexa, you in leather, in a cage, equals ratings!''

The straight-talking exec had a very good point. Lexa's array of outlandishly sexy space outfits are enough to get even non-geeks eagerly tuning in to the Sky One series. And the Canadian-born star didn't take long to embrace this aspect of the show's appeal. 'The pretty pictures are an extra reason to watch,' she says. 'If I wasn't aware of that I might just as well be doing radio.' Which, frankly, would be a crying shame.

Lexa plays the android personification of the starship Andromeda. Not a role that immediately screams sex appeal. 'I kind a let the costume department take care of that,' she explains. 'As long as my outfit is leather, very tight and with a plunging neckline I know I can relax.' So how can a trained thespian prepare themselves to play a spaceship? 'Well, I spent a month in the bowels of an aircraft carrier so I could know what it felt like to be a warship,' she proclaims soberly before breaking into a wide grin and adding, 'Actually, that's complete bollocks.'
Despite an obvious love for her role, Lexa is pleasingly unwilling to exaggerate its demands. 'She's a warship,' she explains. 'She can decimate a planet in less than three minutes so it's like, 'Don't piss me off!' But at the same time, being a machine, she's programmed to take orders. So I have this running joke with the guy who plays the ship's engineer that I'm his secret love slave. He just has to press a button and I start doing a hula dance for him!' Hmmmm. If science fiction has any predictive qualities whatsoever, then the future looks very, very bright indeed.