Channel 4 has bought the rights to screen the 1967 Spider-Man animated series.

The series of 52 episodes marked the super hero's first appearance on television.

Based on the Marvel Comic character, the series follows the familiar story of college student Peter Parker who works as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. Along comes a spider, albeit an irradiated one, and a new super-hero is born.

Of course, the most memorable feature of the series was the catchy title song with lyrics: "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can, can he swing from a web? Take a look overhead, hey there, there goes the Spider-Man!"

The series has recently been cleaned up, prompted by the success of the feature film. C4 has not yet announced a start date for the series.

Meanwhile Mainframe Entertainment, Inc.'s all-new CGI version, Spider-Man, The Animated Series with the voices of Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker and Lisa Loeb as Mary Jane, is due to premiere on MTV later in the year.