POPULAR US TV series Heroes is back on the box this week and fans of the science fiction show, which was created by Tim Kring, can look forward to a jam-packed season of drama, intrigue and superpower fun from Wednesday.

Fans should note that the show will now air three days a week on SABC3, instead of the usual once-a-week broadcast in the past.

The show tells the stories of ordinary individuals from around the world who inexplicably develop superhuman abilities, and have a role in preventing disasters, usually foreseen in images produced by precognitive painters.

Season three opens with the assassination attempt on Nathan Petrelli, (played by Adrian Pasdar) and the consequences this has in the future. In addition, several villains escape from the confines of Level 5, and the Company attempts to recapture them.

Arthur Petrelli recovers from systemic nerve damage with the help of Adam Monroe's healing abilities and eventually gains a few of the villains (Flint Gordon Jr, Knox, and Daphne Millbrook) while later luring in Dr Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), Nathan, Tracy Strauss (played by Final Destination star Ali Larter), Elle Bishop and the evil power Sylar (played by Zachary Quinto).

Fans have known Sylar to be the cause of all the pain and suffering in the series but should expect a shocking revelation in the first episode.

The objective in season three is to create a formula to give people abilities, but after many failures it becomes clear that the catalyst is needed. Cheerleading teenager Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), and Hiro (Masi Oka) go back in time, with Hiro being given such a catalyst by his mother.

This is short-lived when Arthur intervenes and grabs the catalyst. Afterwards, Peter Petrelli (played by Panetteire’s hunky ex- boyfriend, Milo Ventimiglia) and The Haitian, Arthur, face off at Pinehearst where they fight for control of the formula, a special code needed to stop the villains from causing further damage to the earth and misuse of the superpowers.

But how will the heroes stop the destruction of the earth? Peter takes the first step when he injects himself with the formula in order to save Nathan, who was on his father’s side. Ando (James Kyson Lee) is given the ability to charge other people’s abilities (which helped him grab Hiro from the past with the help of Daphne's super-speed ability); Claire, Noah Bennet (played by Jack Coleman), and Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose) fight off Sylar at Primatech but Meredith's ability goes awry, burning the building to the ground with Sylar presumably dead.

Who will prevail: the villains or the heroes? Rest assured that everyone is set to face a number of challenges this season.

The new season of Heroes starts on Wednesday and thereafter will be broadcast at 9pm from Monday to Wednesday each week.