Superheroes with Asbos debut on TV

By Sarah Jane Griffiths Newsbeat entertainment reporter Weird powers: Curtis, Alisha, Nathan, Kelly and Simon

Forget looking glam like the cast of Skins, or wearing pants over their tights. The teen superheroes in new E4 drama Misfits dress almost exclusively in the orange overalls they wear for their community service.

They can't fly either, and are saddled with more than their fair share of issues.

But after being struck by lightening in a freak storm, they each find they have a bizarre superpower which they can use to fight crime.

Although exactly how you can use "sending people into a sexual frenzy" to fight crime remains to be seen.

Newsbeat got a Misfits crash course from the stars of the show.

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Kelly (Lauren Socha) - Can read minds.

Lauren on Kelly: "She's a chav - very aggressive, very hard looking. She's very self-conscious about herself but she's not bothered about smacking someone for saying something about her. I'm the Jeremy Kyle one."

"Her power is that she can hear what people are thinking. Knowing deep thoughts what people think about her she takes it out in violence."

Curtis (Nathan Stewart Jarrett) - Can go back in time.

Nathan on Curtis: "Curtis is a very driven ex-athlete. He's kind of serious and feels that he's a bit better than everyone else and is frustrated that he's there.

Curtis: the "judgmental" time-traveller

"He's got a moral compass that makes him a little bit judgmental. But he's all good."

Nathan on what he'd do if he could really go back in time: "I'd go back to all the major events in history so that people taking pictures could see me.

"Then it would be like Where's Wally through history."

Nathan on comparisons to Skins: "Skins have a different agenda - forgetting superpowers and so on. The characters in Skins choose to be together, we didn't.

"It's about people in a very, very odd situation and how they cope with being together."

Alisha (Antonia Thomas) - Can send people into a sexual frenzy with one touch.

Antonia on Alisha: "She's a bit of a spoiled brat. She kind of goes off the rails, parties hard, does a lot of drugs, she’s gone a bit too far really.

"She thinks that she's very high status – quite unpleasant when you first meet her but that's all really a front and she's actually quite vulnerable."

Antonia on comparisons to Skins: "Unlike Skins it's totally unglamorous. We develop these powers that kind of enhance our insecurities or elements of our characters that we really don’t like.

"And we don't know how to control them. It's a very awkward situation."

Simon (Iwan Rheon) - Disappears when he's ignored.

Iwan on Simon: "Simon's quite shy and introspective – very much referred to as the weird kid.

Simon: The shy guy who can disappear

"He finds it very difficult to fit in and he's been bullied a lot. He's socially invisible and they never listen to him."

Iwan on Simon's superpower: "It begins as something that he can't really control, it's like a sort of fit almost.

"It's a very painful process for him."

Nathan (Robert Sheehan) - No actual power to speak of.

Robert on Nathan: "My character is very much a Clint Eastwood figure except with a lot less squinting, the weapons, and the 'Hey, are you feeling lucky punk?' raspy vocals.

"Let's not get hung up on the fact that my character doesn't have a superpower. It means he spends the whole series trying to figure out what his superpower might be and if he has one or not."

Misfits is on E4 on Thursdays at 10pm.