Jack’s back and ‘24’ fans have reason to live again

BBC Television has made some mistakes in its time, but none as foolish as this: after two series of 24 in 2002 and 2003, it let Sky get its hands on the series. As a result, God knows how many thousands of people joined the Murdoch revolution and bought a Sky dish not for the footie or the movies, but for the annual January-to-May, one-night-a-week, seat-of-the-pants fix of CTU agent Jack Bauer saving the world from terrorists.   

Nine years after the first series was broadcast in the United States - in November 2001, in the immediate wake of 9/11 - Keifer Sutherland continues to play the lone-wolf anti-terrorism agent Bauer. The new series - Day Eight - began in the States last Sunday, and opens in the UK with a double episode on Sky this coming Sunday.

As its dedicated followers need no telling, each series takes place in 'real time' and tells the story of a 24-hour day in Bauer's life, divided neatly into 24 one-hour episodes (actually more like 50 minutes given the American ad breaks).

In the course of the 24 hours, a terrorist threat will be revealed, Jack will inevitably be tortured close to death and he will lose one or two people dear to him. Equally inevitably, he will be totally misunderstood by his own government who will think he has 'turned'. He will then torture several bad guys - but in a good way - and, in the end, save the world and live to see another day, just.

Viewers are left utterly spent, especially those - and there are millions of them around the world - who choose to tape the entire series, or buy the boxed set, and watch it with fellow addicts in one marathon session without the ad breaks.

So, the big question among British fans at this momentous time of year is always the same: Is the new series as good as ever?

Not that it makes the slightest difference to dedicated fans, but here's what some of the American critics had to say after last Sunday's opening in the States. Note, by the way, that even those critics trying to be snarky can't resist being kind about 24. If Tiger Woods can get treatment for sex addiction, is there help for us?

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:Dorothy Rabinowitz, the Wall Street Journal: "If anyone had any doubts of 24's resurrection, complete with its old capacity to induce a rabid appetite for the next episode, the first four hours of its new season on Fox should dispel them."

Robert Bianco, USA Today: "Though the premiere's twists are not as shocking as in years past, better ones are coming, and quickly. Trust me, the show has not lost its ability to surprise - or even to make you gasp. So don't panic if the start is slow. There's plenty of time left to get back to speed."

Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly: "There's a familiarity to 24's structure that now seems a little tired, as does Jack as he reluctantly enters another mission. His hesitancy is earned; 24, by contrast, must earn our allegiance for another season."

Brian Lowry, Variety: "At some point it would be equally welcome to see Bauer ride into the sunset, allowing another hard-bitten agent to assume the unfortunate mantle of protecting a not-particularly-grateful nation - and giving real-life politicians a new fictional savior to reference, cynically, in their counterterrorism arguments. For now, though, 24 impressively soldiers on - even if its popularity has probably peaked and its hero is understandably pooped. Then again, after eight days like this, even Jack Bauer deserves a rest."
 
Alessandra Stanley, the New York Times: "24 has lost the element of surprise and some of its allure, but it still has something few other counterterrorism series offer, namely a terrifying portrait of terrorism. And these days in particular, that's almost reassuring."

'24' starts on Sky One on Sunday, January 24 at 9.0pm with a double episode. There will be two further double episodes before it settles down to single episodes in week four, allowing UK viewers to 'catch up' with those in the US.

  ·