Dave's upcoming sci-fi comedy feature We Are Not Alone is a pilot for a series, creators Larry Rickard and Ben Willbond have confirmed.

Home to Red Dwarf since 2009, Dave is now hoping that the star-studded alien invasion comedy, set to air on the channel next month, achieves similar cult status to the long-running former BBC sitcom.

The confirmation of We Are Not Alone's projected series has emerged as Rickard, Willbond and their fellow Ghosts stars also revealed that their hit BBC One sitcom is returning for a third Christmas special, as well as their readiness to turn it into a film or live show and plans for ongoing crossovers with the US version of the comedy, after Mathew Baynton's cameo in the series finale of the American adaptation airs next month.

Set six weeks after an alien invasion of the Earth and exploring the culture clash between humanity and its new masters, We Are Not Alone stars the relatively unknown Declan Baxter, who appears in the current fourth series of Ghosts, as Stewart, hapless human liaison to the Gu'un, who ends up saddled with alien Greggs (Joe Thomas) for a housemate.

Also starring Vicki Pepperdine and Mike Wozniak as aliens Trater and Gordan, Stewart must help the Gu'uns deliver their message to the masses and win favour with humankind, while aiding Grieves (Amanda Abbington) and the human resistance and managing his enduring crush on Elodie (Trollied's Georgia May Foote).

The ensemble cast features a host of familiar comedy faces, including Rob Delaney, Miles Jupp, Ellie White, Dane Baptiste, Evelyn Mok, Bruce Mackinnon and Lucien Laviscount, plus Rickard and Willbond in minor roles.

"It's a feature-length pilot," Willbond explained to presenter Gaby Roslin on her podcast. "We're keeping our fingers crossed that [Dave] commission a series but they'd be well within their rights to say this is awful!"

Set to air in late November, the 90-minute feature episode, directed by Fergal Costello (Nova Jones, Brain In Gear) and produced by Philip Leach (No Offence) for Big Talk Productions (I Hate You, The Outlaws), explores a science-fiction storyline rarely seen in blockbuster films.

"You get these Hollywood movies, 'oh my God, the aliens are here and we've got to fight them!'" Willbond elaborated. "And then we thought, 'well, what if they won, because they would win, what happens then?' Do they stand around going 'what do we do now?'

"And it's about them coming to terms with the fact that they've got to live with humans, try to fit in and figure out how they operate. It's really a big, deliberate exercise in which to go: 'aren't human's pretty stupid actually?'

"'Sorry, what's your energy policy again? How does that work? What are you burning? Why are you burning that?!'"

Dave and Big Talk spokespeople declined to comment to British Comedy Guide on the projected We Are Not Alone series.