Lost

US television drama series first broadcast by the US ABC network in 2004, it is a castaway tale of a group of 48 passengers who survive an aeroplane crash and are stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific. The series developed a cult following in the USA before it reached the UK in 2005.

A two-hour pilot episode was followed by a weekly prime time spot with a rollover plot. The characters face the challenges of living on a mysterious and dangerous island as well as the struggles of human interaction and the issues of their pasts. The programme is unusual in that it has a large cast with 26 speaking characters and 14 regular characters, who include for example a doctor, a former soldier, a fugitive, a one-time pop star, and a pregnant woman.

The series stars relative unknowns including Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan (who appeared as ‘Merry’ the Hobbit in the blockbuster film cycle The Lord of the Rings (2002-04), Terry O'Quinn, Harold Perrineau, and Michelle Rodriguez. It was co-created by J J Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the show's executive producers.