Dr Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute and writes novels as a sideline. When the standard methods of identifying a body are useless - when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that CSI gives up - law enforcement calls in Brennan for her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the victim's bones.

Most law enforcement are unable to handle Brennan's intelligence, her drive for the truth, and the way she delves headlong into every investigation. But Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) of the FBI's Homicide Investigations Unit has learned to overlook Brennan's social awkwardness and embrace the insights she brings to every case. A former Army sniper, Booth mistrusts science and scientists - the "squints," as he calls them, who pore over the physical evidence - when it comes to solving crimes. But even he cannot deny that the combination of his people-smarts and Brennan's scientific acumen make them a formidable team.

Now that Brennan has discovered at least part of the shocking truth about her parents' real identities, her mother's murder and her father's disappearance, Booth has pledged all his FBI muscle and steadfast support to follow the thin trail of clues, find Brennan's father and give Brennan the answers she's been seeking for the last 15 years.

Brennan's intelligence and social awkwardness mean that - aside from Booth - she is most comfortable with her equally brilliant colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal lab. Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), an artist who specializes in the three-dimensional reconstruction of both crime scenes and victims' facial features, is Brennan's earthy and bawdy best friend; Brennan's grad student and assistant Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) is a young prodigy with a genius IQ; and "the bug guy," conspiracy theorist Dr Jack Hodgins (TJ Thyne), is an expert on insects, spores and minerals. Upon returning from vacation, Brennan is surprised to find she answers to a new boss: the recently hired head of forensics at the Jeffersonian, first-rate pathologist Dr Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), who has a past with Booth.

Bones is from Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television. Barry Josephson, Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan are executive producers. Bones is distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.