On Monday, as the seventh series of the ticking-time-bomb drama 24 began, Christopher Hitchens and Bill O'Reilly crossed swords on Fox News. They were debating the issue that has dogged 24 since it started eight years ago – its depiction of torture. The points at issue were neatly framed in an opening scene from the new series. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the intelligence agent who has already saved America on six occasions, was giving testimony to a Senate Hearing in Washington about human rights violations by the recently-disbanded Counter Terrorist Unit. He said he had only done what was necessary to prevent terrorists from killing innocent people.
From its inception, 24 has always been a political lightning rod. The very first episode featured a passenger jet being blown up by a terrorist. This was two months after 9/11.
"We've always made an effort to have storylines that reflect opinions, Left or Right," says Kiefer Sutherland at the series's US launch. "I don't think we've ever tried to politicise our show, even though it has been politicised by other people. But I certainly think we've tackled topics and ideas in a very responsible way – from the show's perspective."
He's right up to a point – the fifth series did evince a liberal bent, showing wealthy businessmen playing dirty to protect their oil interests. Yet in as much as a thriller can wear political colours, 24 has been a show of the Right. Its co-creator Joel Surnow is an outspoken Republican. In 2007 he said, "People in the Administration love the series. It's a patriotic show. They should love it."
Indeed they should: most of 24's plot lines have come straight from the Dubya playbook. Jack Bauer has taken on Arab terrorists, chemical weapons, nuclear bombs – all the bogeymen of the "war on terror" – and on every occasion, the programme suggests that the ends justify the means. Very often, those means are torture. There were 67 torture scenes in the first five series of 24, or one every other episode. It is a choice which is presented to Bauer time and again and it is a stark one – he can either follow due process or save lives.
Times, however, have changed. Joel Surnow left the programme in February last year, when season seven was still being scripted. Meanwhile, the outgoing Bush Administration has been roundly discredited: the geopolitical diorama in 2009 is very different to that of 2001.
24 seems to be responding: the new series has already begun to reflect the changing political status quo. Jack's new partner in crime prevention is an FBI agent who is a stickler for doing things by the book. Add this to Jack's indictment in the opening scene and it's clear that from now, if torture's shown, it will come with a balancing voice.
"We're writing a story that is loosely based on things that are happening," says Sutherland, who also executive produces 24. "There is so much talk about how we had the first African-American President on television, and now you have an African-American President. But all we have ever done is read a couple of papers and take a look. It's not hard to see what's coming."
In which case, what does the new series of 24 foretell? Firstly, a female President. Just as the first series predicted an African-American in the White House, so series seven gives us a female Commander in Chief (who bears more than a passing a resemblance to a recent contender for the Democratic nomination).
Mme President's first action is to send in troops to stop ethnic cleansing in an African failed state. Should the troops capture the African warlord responsible, she wants him to be tried in a court of law. In a previous series an otherwise-conscientious President sat and watched as a suspect was plugged in to a defibrillator with his feet in a bucket of water.
Not that 24 is looking to the future with rose-tinted glasses – if you watched the series opener on Monday, you'll already know that this new (fictional) administration seems unable to make tough choices. The bad guys are proving much more decisive. President-Elect Obama is probably fine-tuning that Inaugural right now, but if he has time for a spot of TV, he might want to tune in.
24 is on Monday on Sky1/Sky1HD at 9.00pm
