It’s been four years since Jack Bauer disappeared with most of the world’s governments looking for him – and not to take him out for dinner, if you know what I mean. But in London, Jack has resurfaced, seemingly getting himself caught by the CIA on purpose. Sounds like the cheeky chappie is up to something…

Soon Jack, Chloe and a bundle of new gun-toting friends are up to their necks in a global crisis. Someone has found a way to take control of the US government drone program – you know, those heavily armed robot planes – and has a bunch of them heading for London. And needless to say, that isn’t the end of the story – there are worse things waiting behind the scenes…

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! And I mean that in a good way, honest.

I love 24, but thought the previous season (season 8, i.e. the one set in New York) was a bit of a let down, with the end of the day, despite the reappearance of Gregory Itzin as ex-President Logan, falling rather flat. But when it was announced that Jack would be back, I was looking forward to it immensely. Shame it was on Sky, so I had to wait for the DVD to come out. And here it is.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this. First of all, it’s utter nonsense. High points include everyone getting their up-to-the-minute data from Sky News and a couple of dodgy jumps between episodes, and the sheer amount of plot twists, especially in the final four hours. Basically the plot is as mad as a box of frogs.

But it works. This is due in part to the cast treating the material totally seriously – 24 never had the need to resort to comic relief characters – adding a layer of gravitas to it and the fact that this series feels as if it is a bit of a reward for fans of the previous seasons. The President is now Senator Heller from previous encounters with our hero, his daughter (last seen comatose due to being tortured to get at Jack) is functioning again and, of course, Chloe is around to provide the tech support. And there’s more, but I won’t spoil those bits. Michelle Fairley plays the villain – well, one of them, there’s always more than one – and does a wonderful job, as does Stephen Fry as the Prime Minister of the UK, Tate Donovan as Audrey’s new husband and the President’s chief of staff and Michael Wincott as the leader of Chloe’s hacker collective.

Jack’s far less broody and introspective here than he has been at times – with only actually 12 hours to get the job done, he has to keep moving. But I can’t remember a series that I’ve enjoyed as a guilty pleasure for a long time. In fact there were at least three moments where both Mrs Puzzle Doctor and I cheered out loud – one involving a football stadium, one involving a window and one involving an entrance. If you’ve seen the series, you might know the bits I mean. And there’s that wonderful feeling you get from 24 when you think about the difference between what you were doing in the last 3 hours and what Jack has done in the last 3 hours…

A spectacular return to form for the series and let’s hope there’s more to come from Jack in the future. Highly Recommended.