HAWKINS' heroes

Flashlights and walkie-talkies on... Millie Bobby Brown and the gang gear up for an epic final showdown

- REBECCA MAHONEY

Stranger Things From Thursday 27 November, Netflix

After almost 10 years of 1980s-inspired adventures, soundtracks and hairstyles, the end is here for sci-fi phenomenon Stranger Things. But can Hawkins' young heroes rescue their town and humanity itself from the ever-encroaching Upside Down?

Showing in three parts, Season 5 picks up 18 months on, in the autumn of 1987, with Hawkins now under military quarantine after the monstrous Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) opened up 'rifts' between the once-peaceful Indiana town and his alternate dimension.

Hawkins' citizens believe an earthquake is to blame for the destruction, while Vecna (formerly known as Henry Creel, or One) remains at large, albeit wounded. But Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and his gang – Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will (Noah Schnapp) – are laser-focused on their mission to destroy the evil, gnarly deity.

Trouble is, their secret weapon, telekinetic teenager Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), is now on the run from the government. Can the crew reunite to close the portals and stop the Upside Down from engulfing their world?