On Sunday on Sky1, Jack Bauer, the maverick counter-terrorism agent played by Kiefer Sutherland, returns for the eighth and reportedly final series of 24. Since it first aired in the US in 2001, the compulsive thriller has won millions of viewers thanks to its taut plots, explosive action sequences and innovative format. (For the uninitiated, each series of 24 follows a single day in the life of Bauer and his Counter Terrorism Unit colleagues as they foil various outlandish terrorist plots. These preposterously eventful days – in which no one ever appears to sleep or go to the lavatory – play out in “real time” over 24 hour-long episodes.)
24 is now broadcast in more than 50 countries, has won 18 Emmys, and has influenced dozens of subsequent shows. So as Jack Bauer prepares to save the world yet again, here are five ways 24 has changed television:
1) Movie stars on the small screen
Alongside Martin Sheen in The West Wing, Kiefer Sutherland (Stand by Me, The
Lost Boys) was one of the first of a recent wave of Hollywood actors to take
a starring role in a long-running television drama. The success of 24 made
Sutherland the best-paid actor on television (he reportedly earns $550,000
per episode). During the last decade a host of actors best-known for working
in film followed Sutherland’s lead by transferring to the small screen. They
include Glenn Close (Damages), Tim
Roth (Lie to Me), Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment) and Alec Baldwin (30
Rock).
2) Helped create “box-set DVD culture”
Nowadays it is commonplace for viewers to watch complex, long-running TV
dramas (especially American ones) on DVD, so that they can watch episodes at
a time and pace that suits them. 24 was one of the first dramas to be avidly
followed in this way: fans were so hooked by its suspenseful plots they
preferred to buy a whole series on DVD and then watch it in multi-episode
binges. Indeed, on its release, the first series of 24 shot to the top of
the UK DVD charts, outselling The Lord of the Rings. This was the first time
a non-feature-length DVD had taken top spot. Thanks to the show’s
“real-time” format, 24 episodes are well-suited to being watched on DVD:
some square-eyed fans sit through a whole series in 24 hours, or watch the
DVDs at 24-themed parties. (The series has even inspired a drinking game, in
which viewers must drink a shot every time Jack Bauer says, “Damn it.”
Bauer’s episode record is 14 “Damn its”.) DVD sales of 24 haven’t waned:
154,000 copies of Series 7 have been sold in the UK and 4,000 Bauer
completists have bought the ultimate box-set (Series 1-7) since it went on
sale in October.
3) Brought Hollywood production values to television
In previous decades, the stunts and action set-pieces in the average TV drama
couldn’t hold a candle to those seen in the cinema. But with its slick
editing (including a now much-copied split-screen storytelling device) and
Hollywood-sized budgets (each episode costs several million dollars to make)
24 has raised the bar for TV dramas. In 24 aeroplanes blow up, nuclear bombs
detonate and characters are menaced by cougars (all on camera). Now fans of
US TV dramas expect 24’s Hollywood-style production values, forcing series
such as Lost, Heroes and FlashForward
to operate on a similarly blockbusting scale.
4) Courted political controversy
Despite its absurdly OTT plots, 24 tries to reflect current political issues,
even to the point of controversy. (In fact, in some cases it’s tapped into
the zeitgeist so well it now seems eerily prescient, e.g. its very first
episode, made a year before 9/11, showed a terrorist blowing up a jumbo jet.
Series 1 also features a black American President.)
More controversially, 24 also shows Jack Bauer employing ends-justifies-the-means torture methods to extract information from those in his way. During the Bush administration US interrogation methods became a political talking point – as did Jack Bauer. In 2008, 24 was widely criticised by leading US politicians after barrister Philippe Sands wrote a book about Guantánamo Bay in which military officials cited the series as an inspiration for what happened there (Bauer, one officer claimed, “gave people a lot of ideas”). Other TV dramas have since taken note: the writers of Spooks, for example, now edit their scripts as close as possible to broadcast to make the political storylines more topical.
5) Reinvented the cliff-hanger
The average episode of 24 contains more twists, turns and cliff-hangers than
most dramas get through in a series. As an illustration, over the previous
seven series Bauer has been: abducted by the Chinese government; become
addicted to heroin; saved the world from a corrupt president; been seemingly
killed (twice); and murdered 225 people. This ludicrous plot overload is one
of the reasons the series is so compelling: the viewer is bombarded with
dozens of major (and frequently unexpected) plot developments to keep them
constantly guessing. Dramas such as Lost and Heroes work in a similar way.
Like Jack Bauer and 24, they refuse to allow the viewer a moment’s respite
from the suspense.
24 is on Sunday on Sky1/Sky1HD at 9.00pm