Heroes has received a lot of praise over the years on TV Scoop, however, the last series left a terrible taste in the mouth. The show had gone from a brilliantly confusing and ambitious body of work to something so dim that it couldn't see its own hand in front of its face. As such, the ratings began to slide and according to early figures, it's continued on a downward keel. The third episode of volume five - titled 'Ink' - pulled in 5.82m for NBC during the 8pm hour, down from last week's two-hour premiere in the US.

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The last series (or 'season' if you're American or British and trying to be cool) of Heroes was a massive disappointment. As a show, it had gone from ambitious and confusing to barrel scraping, ab-flexing, thicko-action sci-fi. The next series had a fair amount riding on it. Such a departure left the show feeling like it was sat in it's own urine with the commissioner's axe swaying precariously overhead. So when the news came in of a potential storyline for the next batch, I was rather intrigued. Would we get a new, even badder baddie? Would the Petrelli sprout insect wings? No. Heroes looks like it's going to stoop low and give lonely sci-fi nuts a cheap trouser shuffle. Ladies and Gentleman... when in trouble, get Claire (Hayden Panettiere) to get off with a girl.

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Heroes has been struggling of late (check the news that Bryan Fuller, the man credited for its improvements last series, has now left the show), so it's clear that the producers of the show are going a bit Twin Peaks and going for the surreal angle. So here's a sneaky peaky which has obviously been leaked because it's clearly true, of Sylar (Zachary Quinto) falling flat on his face with a dog, a giant pork chop and a butcher covered in blood. New characters in the next series? What an exclusive this is!

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[via HolyMoly]

Against my better judgement, I've been a fan of Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 11 May, 9pm). I don't know how it did it, but it reeled me in... I mean, it's a sci-fi show fercryingoutloud! What on earth am I doing letting a science fiction, geekoid comic book thing past my defences. I don't like flights of fancy, especially when they involve emo like inner turmoil and people who can fly. I like dumb things with guns and swearing... but c'mon! Heroes takes the piss, right? Of course it does. However, this series has pushed its luck too far and now it's over, it's time to reflect.

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This most recent series of Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 11 May, 9pm) has been a real turkey. It's gotten so dumb that it's more akin to the usual sci-fi dross that we import from America, rather than the perplexing, fun ride of previous outings. Rather than feeling like a comic book like before, the latest outings seemed happy enough to run around the garden with its underpants on the outside of its trousers. However, that's not to say we should all give up... because next week, we've got the big season ender in a twofer, surely set to stand a few hairs on end.

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Heroes is a weird show; a show that really polarises people. On the one hand people have given it a good kicking, on the other people are proclaiming that this latest series is back to form. But I've been wondering whether this return to form is too little, too late. But good news... Heroes has been shown some faith by its US network NBC and has been renewed for another series.

For all our Heroes news and reviews, go here.

By virtue of the fact that I'm terrified of watching Ashes To Ashes, because I haven't seen a single episode, thereby, leaving me dribbling and confused... and to the fact that I might be one of those idiots who says "Er, excuse me, but 'Dare' wouldn't have been released at that point", I decided I'd once again, take a punt on the reprogrammed and worsened Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 20 April, 9pm). Last night's episode was called 'Turn and Face the Strange', and is leading into some secret... perhaps the raison d'être for the programme thus far. Skulls and burials grounds uncovered it seems, along with yet more hamfisted chasery.

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I'd pretty much given up on Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 6 March, 9pm). It had gotten stupid and predictable. It was no longer the weird coiled spring of a show that had me hooked on so many levels that I would sit wide-eyed and baffled, but completely rapt. So far had it fallen in its 'comeback' season, that I went into a huge sulk and avoided any mention of it... until last night. Monday nights aren't great for telly at the moment, so by fortuitous boredom, I tuned in again, thinking 'it'll do' until The Brilliant Stewart Lee appeared on the box.

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Building 26? What's that all about? Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 9 March, 9pm) was once filled with dread and mysticism... shows called things like Angels and Demons and Fireball Monster Kapow... and now... Building 26? Where's the fun in that? It's gone from being a show about super powers and turmoil to something that sounds like a bloody container behind a retail park. Not just in title either. The show has completely lost momentum, verve and trickery to become something so pedestrian that it's now resembling the boring tail-end of The X Files... all whispering and conspiracy.

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Am I missing something? Is this series of Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 2 March, 9pm) that we have now the one set to reignite the world's love-affair with the show? In last night's 'Trust and Blood', I completely didn't get the fuss anymore. Okay, it might seem a bit knee-jerk, as it may have been merely a duff episode... but it certainly seems to me that what Heroes has lost in intrigue and density, it's gained in almost soapiness.

Related: Our Heroes Section | 63 Reasons To Save Heroes

So, this newest, shiniest segment of Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 23 February, 9pm), called 'A Clear and Present Danger', was the beginning of a newer, sharper show. A return to form. Everyone had bemoaned the slithering, twisting stories of the previous outings and wanted quicker, harder kicks. Well, it's with some anticipation I tuned in for the latest bunch of arse-kicking shows... and what did I get? A slow, drip-feed, with occasional scraps, much like the second series which saw so many moan that Heroes has lost its edge. Is Heroes
suffering an identity crisis?

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Oh Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 23 February, 9pm), I've missed having your slight pretentiousness and thrills around. While the show has had detractors over the months, this new batch seems to be a 'return to form'. That means, in essence, stories that won't confuse dim people and more people getting punched in the face. That's no bad thing obviously. You sign up for Heroes, you go along for the ride no matter how far-fetched or low-brow it decides to be. So what can we look forward to in Monday's episode, titled, A Clear and Present Danger?

Related: Heroes Superbowl Ad | Heroes Graphic Novel | 63 Reasons To Give Heroes Another Chance

The fourth series (or volume, if you like) of Heroes started Stateside last night, and, in many quarters, it was fighting for survival. Actually, it's the second part of series three that was curtailed by the writers' strike. There's a fairly strong argument out there that says the series has become too messy, too over-reliant on time travel and struggling under the weight of the sheer number of characters. Hope are high for volume four, and it's been suggested that things will calmer and a lot more linear. While I was looking around for reviews of last night's series-opening episode, I came across this on io9.com, which made me chuckle. It's 63 Reasons To Give Heroes One More Chance and provides quite a compelling argument to why we should still be watching it. As one of the people who had lost interest, it's made me excited again. So what does the article suggest? Have a look over the jump...

For all our Heroes news and reviews, go here.

You have to love this. Watching and enjoying every minute of the Superbowl on Sunday as I did, I would have loved to have been able to watch some of the US adverts. Instead, we got the rubbish Jake Humphrey saying things like, "That was a good try." Anyway, I heard a rumour that NBC, the US network hosting this year's event, were trying to buck the economic downturn by selling one-second adverts for one million bucks a pop. Not sure if that was true or not, but one of the network's big show, Heroes, go the full Superbowl advert treatment, to help flag up the new series, which started last night. Have a look at the advert over the jump, and I'll try and bring you early reviews as and when they come in.

For all our Heroes news and reviews, go here.

Related: TV Review: Superbowl

That came around a bit quick didn't it? Well, it did for US viewers - I'm not sure when the BBC is planning to show Heroes, series four or volume four or whatever they're calling it (for series three the Beeb was refreshingly quick on the uptake). In a week or so's time - 2 February - NBC is starting Heroes: Fugitives. The tagline on the NBC website says this: In 2009, they'll be hunted...they'll be captured...they'll need each other. Now, I was one of the people who thought that series two and, increasingly so, series three just had too much stuff. But Heroes is still a television event, and even though the trailer after the jump doesn't reveal too much, it still whets the appetite.

For all our Heroes news and reviews, go here.

AAAARGH! AAAARGH! WOOOURRGH! JESUS H. CHRIST! HEROES (BBC Two, Wednesday, 17 October, 9pm) IS BLOODY EXCITING! Oh boy, oh boy! The storyline of chapter three has flitted around, sometimes confusingly (not that 'confusing' is a bad thing... especially in the case of this show) and the thrills have gone from subtle emotional interest to violent and erupting kick-ass scraps. Oh, and then there's the small matter of a growing pile of cadavers which has spiked this season, the latest, being the single most exciting thing I've seen in the Heroes universe. Seriously. Every episode seen prior has been squashed by this mighty, mighty episode! The closing minutes of last night's show, dubbed 'Our Father', saw me actually screaming and hopping around on the couch.

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Last week, we left our Heroes (BBC Two, Wednesday, 10 December, 9pm) in the weird light of an eclipse with no powers. As such, the tension was cranked to medieval rack point. Normally, I'd catch the next part on BBC Three, but the repeat of Outnumbered is on... so I have a week where I furiously fret about what will happen in the weird alternate universe that Heroes resides in. So by the time The Eclipse Part Two came along I was like a strung out smack-head, chewing my nails in cold sweats, itching at my flesh wanting the next fix... and when it came, it didn't disappoint.

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I don't normally do a 'Set The Video' for Heroes (BBC Two, Wednesday, 10 December, 9pm) because it should go without saying just how brilliant it is. However, for those who watched last week, like me, you'll be itching to find out what happens in 'The Eclipse. Part 2'. So where are we up to with our super heroes? Or should I say our powerless super heroes...

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