Ok, all you Joss Whedon fans in the UK - it's time to stop emailing Marvel, ABC, or Joss himself about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

After a fierce bidding war, Channel 4 beat Sky for the rights to broadcast the new series in the UK. The superhero show - a spin-off of the hit film Avengers Assemble - is set to launch in the US on the ABC network on September 24, 2013, and will make its British debut soon after.

Written and produced by Whedon - the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and writer and director of The Avengers - S.H.I.E.L.D is the first live action TV series produced by Marvel. 

"Like the superhero universe from which it has come, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is big, bold and absolutely exhilarating," said Channel 4's chief creative officer, Jay Hunt.

"Featuring the production values you'd expect from Marvel and ABC Studios, this is family entertainment at its most exciting."

The show follows a team of US secret agents for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. The cast is led by Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson. He and his team are tasked with investigating the emergence of super-humans on Earth, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.

Marvel fans will be eager to discover the details of Agent Coulson's reappearance, given he was apparently killed off in Avengers Assemble.

The blockbuster movie was one of the biggest hits of recent times, grossing $1.46 billion worldwide. A sequel is due in 2015.

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