Batman prequel Gotham premieres on Fox

The backstory of Batman's many villains came to life on Monday in a new US television drama series that Fox hopes will help lift its prime-time ratings out of the doldrums.

Gotham stars David Mazouz as a 12-year-old Bruce Wayne who witnesses the cold-blooded murder of his parents on the grim nocturnal backstreets of contemporary New York.

But the plot centers on the rookie detective James Gordon, played by Ben McKenzie, the character who would become the Commissioner when Wayne grows up to become the Caped Crusader.