Lost producers extend finale to two-and-a-half hours (to pack in every last twist and turn, presumably)
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Updated: 18:35 BST, 7 May 2010








In just three weeks time, millions of Lost fans will finally be put out of their misery when the ground-breaking series comes to an end.

For the past six years, fans have been left delighted, enthralled and utterly confused by the mysterious goings-on in this award-winning series.


And while producers are remaining securely tight-lipped about the show's grand finale on May 23 (May 28 for British viewers), they have extended the show to two and a half hours - because there are so many unresolved issues to clear up.
The last hurrah: From left to right: Ilana Verdansky, Richard Alpert, Claire Littleton, Sayid Jarrah, Kate Austen, James 'Sawyer' Ford, The Man In Black (in John Locke's form), Jack Shepherd, Jin-Soo Kwon, Benjamin Linus, Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes, Sun-Hwa Kwon, Miles Straume and Frank Lapidus


What is the significance of the six numbers - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42?

What is the purpose and nature of the island? Who is the Man In Black? And will the survivors ever find their way home?


For those who never got into this global hit TV show, been on another planet or have never even heard of it, Lost tells the tale of a group of survivors whose Oceanic flight 815 plane crashed en route from Sydney to Los Angeles, leaving them stranded on a tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific.

They set about keeping themselves alive and desperately try and find a way home by whatever means necessary.
Stranded: The crash scene from the very first episode, the most expensive pilot in television history, costing between $10 and $14 million

They soon realise, however, that the island is not all it seems, and they slowly begin to discover that it has plans for each and every one of them, with some losing their lives along the way.


Viewers also learned more about the central characters and their lives before the crash, in a series of flashbacks in each episode, and discovered that everyone is unknowingly connected in some way.


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But it is the strange happenings on the island, including the mysterious whispers in the jungle, the black smoke monster, the six numbers that are connected to the island and the characters, the malevolent inhabitants known as the Others and the Dharma Initiative that had many enthralled and hooked in no time.
From another time: The Black Rock ship, first seen in season one and revealed as the ship that brought slaves, including Richard Alpert, to the island


LOST IN THE MINUTIAE

 ABC picked up the show before there even was a script. 

The pilot was the most expensive pilot episode ever made in TV history, costing between $10 and $14 million


Lost is filmed on the Hawaiian island of Oahu

The only member of the principal cast who didn't have to audition was Terry O'Quinn (Locke) having previously worked with creator J.J Abrams

Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton was originally cast as Jack, who was to be killed off in the pilot.

When writers kept the character, Keaton backed out as he didn't want to commit to a TV series

Forest Whitaker was originally cast as Sawyer but dropped out due to other commitments

Over the following six series viewers found out that the island has unusual electromagnetic powers that can shift it back and forth through time.

It was found by the scientific research project the Dharma Initiative who set up a base on the island in the 1960s until it was destroyed by the Hostiles, a mysterious group of people led by Richard Alpert - the man who never ages - who came to the island in 1867 on a slave ship called the Black Rock.


Richard was brought to the island by Jacob, a mysterious figure of authority and the spiritual guru of the island - and who is also, as it turns out, responsible for the crash of flight 815 in order to bring his 'candidates' to the island.

Through flashbacks, fans also learned that Jacob had some subtle ability to foresee the future and guide events, purposefully encountering several individuals on that flight before the crash - including Jack, Hurley and Sawyer, who we have learned are candidates - those who will replace him in the job of protecting the island.

They were also among the Oceanic Six, survivors of Flight 815 - Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sun, Sayid and Aaron - who escaped the island and returned home 108 days after the crash, only to return three years later.


There are many other twists and turns to this complicated tale and with just three weeks left, things are starting to slot into place but there is still no major clue as to what will happen in the last 150 minutes.
Egyptian symbolism: The foot which is all that remains of the statue of Taweret, goddess of birth, rebirth and the northern sky - and where Jacob lived until his death at the hands of Ben Linus

The show has been filmed on location in Hawaii and when it burst onto our screens in September 2004, the pilot episode attracted 18million viewers across America and seven million across the UK tuned in.

And while some have got bored or fed up with working out all the little mysteries, cliffhangers and storylines that may never be solved, there has been a constant faiful following that will be glued to the their screens in three weeks time, hoping and praying that their dedication and loyalty has been worth it.

MAIN CHARACTERS
Jack Shepherd
Kate Austen
John Locke

Jack Shepherd (Matthew Fox)

A neurosurgeon with issues about his father, he was quickly established as the leader of the survivors.

He manages to escape the island in series 4 as part of the Oceanic Six but returns three years later, arriving in 1977 and ends up joining the Dharma Initiative. This season it was revealed that Jack is one of the 'candidates'.

Kate Austen (Evangeline Lily)

Arrested for murdering her stepfather, she was being taken back to Los Angeles by a federal marshall when the plane crashed.

She becomes the love interest of both Jack and Sawyer and when she leaves the island, ends up raising Claire's baby Aaron, only to return to the island to find Claire and reunite her with her son. Has amazing tracking and survival skills that proved handy on the island.


John Locke (Terry O'Quinn)

A paraplegic when he crashes, he miraculously heals once on the island and is able to walk again for the first time in years.

The hunter of the group, he discovered the Hatch and often clashes with Jack over decisions concerning the welfare of the survivors. He too left the island but with the intention of convincing the others to return to the island. He was murdered by Ben and his corpse was taken over by the Man In Black.
James 'Sawyer' Ford
Ben Linus
Claire Littleton

James 'Sawyer' Ford (Josh Holloway)

An intelligent con man from the Deep South, Sawyer was flying back from Australia when he'd been searching for the man responsible for the death of his parents.

An outsider of the group at first, due in part to his sharp tongue and selfish behaviour, he soon redeemed himself and stayed on the island as others escaped, undergoing a time shift that took him back to 1974 where he joined the Dharma Initiative. Also brought to the island by Jacob as a 'candidate'.


Ben Linus (Michael Emerson)

A former leader of the Others, he came to the island aged eight with his father when his mother died, and was brought up by the Dharma Initiative, despite attempts to join Richard Alpert and the Hostiles.

He left the island, killed John Locke and convinced Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sun to return to the island with him where he killed Jacob.


Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin)

Heavily-pregnant when she crashed on the island, Claire gave birth to a baby boy who she called Aaron, but she left him for unknown reasons and he was taken off the island by Kate, who raised him for the next three years.

When the Oceanic Six return to the island, they find Claire in a state of madness, having been 'infected' by The Sickness, an unknown illness.

Jin-Soo Kwon
Sun-Hwa Kwon
Sayid Jarrah

Jin and Sun Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim)

A married couple from Korea, they were on their way to Los Angeles where Jin was to do a delivery job for Sun's father Mr Paik, when the plane crashed.

Sun secretly learned English as she was planning to leave Jin to start a new life with her lover in America. She escaped the island but Jin was left behind, and she believed him to be dead after watching the freighter he was on explode but he, like Sawyer, had gone back in time and was employed by the Dharma Initiative.


Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews)

A former Iraqi Republican Guard torturer and interrogator, Sayid was on the plane headed to the US to find his long lost love, Nadia.

He proved himself useful in the beginning because of his communication skills learned in the army. He was among the Oceanic Six but on returning to the island, Sayid found himself in 1977, where the Dharma Initiative captured him, believing him to be a Hostile. He escaped - after shooting a young Ben -  returned to 2007 where he died, but was resurrected by the Man In Black and has been in an almost blank state ever since.

Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Desmond Hume
Richard Alpert

Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes (Jorge Garcia)

An obese, kind and caring man, Hurley won millions of dollars on the lottery after he used the mysterious numbers but believed them to be cursed after a number of unfortunate events after the win. He was on Flight 815 from Australia where he was trying to uncover the significance of the numbers.

As a youngster, he was institutionalised in a mental asylum where he began seeing an imaginary friend called Dave, and has been overly-conscious about his sanity ever since, even though he is able to talk to the dead. A popular man among the survivors, he has also been named as a 'candidate'.


Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick)

Arrived on the island after crashing there while competing in a boat race.

Husband of Penny, the daughter of Charles Widmore, who has a connection to the island and is preparing a war with the Man In Black. Desmond was found by Dharma worker Kelvin and worked in the Swan station keeping the island's Classical Electromagnetism under control. He escaped along with the Oceanic Six, was reunited with Penny but has been brought back to the island under unknown circumstances by Widmore, who was experimented on and escaped death after Sayid was sent to kill him by the Man In Black.


Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell)

Once a Spaniard living on the Canary islands, he was sold into slavery and crashed on the island in the Black Rock in 1867.

He cannot age after making a deal with Jacob, and became the leader of The Others and seems to be able to travel back and forth in time. After Jacob's death, he tried to kill himself, believing all the years he had spent on the Island were meaningless, as Jacob had promised him he would share everything he knew.
But through Hurley, he found out from his long-dead wife Isabella, that he must prevent the Man in Black from leaving the island.