All you need to know about season five

It’s been more than three years since Stranger Things fans last visited Hawkins, Indiana.

This fictional US town is home to one of Netflix’s biggest hits, and the long wait for the blockbuster final series is almost over.

But you’d be forgiven for forgetting what Eleven and her bike salesman pals were up to the last time we were in their troubled neighborhood.

Here are some important questions to ask about whether the show’s hiatus has messed with your memory a bit.

The first four episodes of the fifth season of Stranger Things will be released on Netflix in the UK on Thursday, November 27 at 1am ET.

This is a late night for UK fans who want to avoid spoilers, but that’s because the series is airing simultaneously around the world. For example, for viewers in Los Angeles, the time will be 5pm on Wednesday, and for fans in New York, the time will be 8pm on Wednesday.

But binge-eaters beware, you’ll have to wait until Christmas Day for episodes five, six and seven.

The final series will then conclude with its eighth episode, The Rightside Up, on New Year’s Eve.

The full story of Stranger Things will be told before the end of 2025, but how many of the beloved characters will still be among us by Christmas?

The season four finale featured the gang splitting up to take down Vecna.

We learn that Eleven actually created the villain herself, using her powers to send Henry Creel between dimensions.

Henry had targeted Eleven at a research facility where experiments were being conducted on her and her supernatural abilities.

While traveling to the Upside Down, he was burned to become Vecna, and then set his sights on finding his way back to Eleven’s friend Max, whom he (briefly) killed.

While her friends seemingly destroy Vecna, Eleven’s intervention to resurrect Max gives the villain a lifeline.

The rift between the Upside Down and Hawkins opens as fields of flowers fade, clouds turn black, and bright red lightning fills the sky.

Or should we call it One? Or is it Vecna?

Henry Creel gained power when he went into an alternate dimension for 12 hours.

Tramp Henry’s life doesn’t get any better when his family moves to Hawkins and he spends his free time hanging out with spiders in the attic.

During a disastrous family dinner, Henry uses his powers to kill his family and finds himself on the radar of the Hawkins National Laboratory staff.

Once there, Dr. Brenner labels Henry as “001” or “The One”, his first subject of investigation.

Dr Brenner suppresses Henry’s powers by implanting a chip in his neck and directs his attention to the other children, including Eleven.

Henry bides his time by keeping a close eye on other subjects before befriending Eleven.

He helps her regain her powers, which ends badly and their battle crashes and burns him towards turning into Vecna.

Stranger Things is one of the biggest jewels in Netflix’s crown, becoming one of the streaming giant’s earliest original hit series in the mid-2010s.

Netflix’s own statistics say that the fourth season of the series alone has been watched more than 140 million times, or approximately 1.8 billion hours of viewing.

As the series’ fandom grew, so did the profile of its predominantly young cast.

Millie Bobby Brown, who was 12 years old when she made her debut as Eleven in 2016, has become one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.

The British actress starred in two Godzilla films and a Sherlock Holmes adaptation about the detective’s teenage sister, Enola.

Meanwhile, Stranger Things spawned a West End production of The First Shadow and revived the career of two-time Academy Award nominee Winona Ryder.

David Harbour’s performance as Jim Hopper proved to be the gateway to blockbuster films, including the Marvel films Black Widow and Thunderbolts.