Big Night In: Start up your engines cos Ru is back!

Season 9 will be airing in Spring 2017 pitting 13 fabulous drag queens against each other in a range of challenges in order to become America's Next Drag Superstar – following in the footsteps of such legendary drag queens as Sharon Needles, Jinx Monsoon and Bianca Del Rio.

You don't need to leave the comfort of your own home and television for glamourous outfits, made up faces, oodles of gossip paired with drama and tears aplenty – you can just tune in to Ru Paul's Drag Race, and I'm here to tell you why you should.

Firstly, you will be left gagging over the fabulous outfits and make-up artistry that will grace your screen.

Faced with various challenges with different themes and objects as the focus such as animals, candy, post-apocalypse and even pregnancy – each potential queen has to create outfits from scratch and you can watch the whole stressful process.

Who could forget Sharon Needle's horrifying post-apocalyptic victim as she spat blood in front of the judges? Or Alaska's sickly-sweet candyfloss and hard-boiled sweets costume? Or even Violet Chachki's iconic fall reveal with her outfit changing at the loosening of a button.

You watch the transformation of the everyday male to their drag character, and even watch the queens drag up army veterans, couples and the elderly.

Talking of challenges – the library is now open! You will be rolling with laugher at some of the mini challenges and tasks these queens have to endure, and maybe even try and re-enact them yourselves.

Try your hand at celebrity impersonations and gameshow questions in the Snatch Game, a parody of Match Game.

Take tips from Sharon Needle's Michelle Visage, Chad Michaels' Cher or Bianca Del Rio's Judge Judy and turn their mannerisms into a comedic sketch to earn points and win the game.

Have you spotted any words or phrases that make little sense? That's Ru Paul-ology, or Ru Paul terminology and you won't be able to stop once you start to watch – party!

With every season comes a new bunch of catchphrases along with drag terminology that will be on the tip of your tongue for the rest of time – can I get an amen?

Most importantly, in a time of political upheaval and unrest, it is important to have a show that is all about community, inclusion and spreading the message of love.

Ru Paul's Drag Race is full of heartfelt moments that address real issues that affect the LGBT community

With the history of drag, abusive relationships with partners and family, death and love lost Ru Paul's Drag Race covers it all, as well as showcasing the courage and strength the queens display to overcome them.

Drag Race doesn't just tackle issues, it resolves them – There was not a dry eye in the house when Darienne Lake was reunited with her estranged family, or when Joslyn Fox got married to her fiancé during the Season 6 finale, or Trinity K Bonet revealing her HIV positive statuses and finding love in her fellow queens.

If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else? That message rings true throughout Ru Paul's Drag Race.

Following the show and the publicity it has brought to the LGBT and drag community has brought around some exciting shows.

Bianca Del Rio's feature length film Hurricane Bianca (Nelfix and Amazon) in which the hateful comedian has to don her drag persona to fit in in a right-wing community as a school teacher.

The film features an array of Drag Race stars such as Shangela, Willam, Alyssa Edwards and Miss Ru Paul herself littering in-jokes and camp fabulousness into every scene.

Other Drag Race-related offerings include Sundance prize-winning documentary Paris Is Burning (Netflix and Amazon) offering an intimate portrait of 1980s Harlem drag balls, Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement (Netflix) tackling the legalisation of gay marriage and Vito (Netflix) that explores the life of Vito Russo who wrote The Celluloid Closet, which examines movie portrayals of homosexuals. Russo was a powerful force in gay politics and AIDS awareness before dying of the disease in 1990.

These documentaries build on the work of Ru Paul's Drag Race – they offer an intimate view into the lives of those within the LGBT community, the issues they face and strive to achieve understanding, empathy and love overall.

By Becci Stanley