Hot on the heels of successes such as 24 and Lost, Heroes is the latest US genre series to take a rather more leisurely approach to storytelling, with its tale of everyday people who discover they have various superpowers gradually unfolding over a full season.

Season 1 saw the various characters coming together to prevent the destruction of New York City in a nuclear explosion (predicted by artist Isaac Mendez who could see glimpses of the future) and to prevent the death of cheerleader Claire Bennet, who discovered that she cannot die, and whose father Noah Bennet works for the mysterious "Company".

Other major characters include Peter Petrelli, who is able to take on the powers of the other characters; his brother Nathan (biological father of Claire) who has to hide his ability to fly whilst running for Congress; police officer Matt Parkman who can read people's thoughts; and Japanese office worker Hiro Nakamura who is able to travel through time and teleport from one location to another.

As befits all such superhero stories, the psychopathic bad guy is present in the form of Sylar (aka Gabriel Gray) whose own ability was to cut people's heads open and to somehow steal their powers. Also on the dark side was the Company, who seemingly have plans for the heroes and their superpowers...

Sadly, Season 2 was curtailed by the writer's strike in the US, with the storylines being wrapped up after just eleven episodes. Season 3 appeared on air in 2008, although ratings were way down on those for Season 1, with Season 4 eventually drawing things to a close.