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Review by Jack Foley |
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DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: Alternate ending; Series two preview.
FORGET Big Brother, the real television talking point of the summer (for those
people with a life and some sense of discernment) was 24, the landmark US
television series which dominated BBC2's Sunday evening schedule.
Described as the most innovative drama to hit UK screens thus far, 24 set
its stall out from the very beginning and managed to take a premise which
seemed impossible and turn it into one of the most compelling, convoluted
and damn-right surprising series in recent TV history.
Starring Kiefer Sutherland (he of Young Guns fame, and now enjoying a spectacular
career revival), Leslie Hope, Elisha Cuthbert , Dennis Haysbert and Sarah
Clarke, 24 focuses on a day in the life of Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) operative,
Jack Bauer (Sutherland), a Special Forces veteran with a patched-up marriage,
who is faced with the prospect of preventing the assassination of US Presidential
candidate, David Palmer, while trying to track down his kidnapped family.
Each episode is told in real time (taking into account advert breaks in the
US), starting at midnight and running until the following day, and each could
be a movie in itself, such is the scale and complexity of each one. Indeed,
it is credit to the producers that the momentum and tension has been maintained
throughout, making each Sunday night essential viewing.
And as for the twists and turns, well they just keep on coming - even if some
during the series' middle stages strained credibility a little too far! There's
moles in CTU, deception and counter-deceptions, more dysfunctional families
than you can shake a stick at (Palmer, in particular, is straddled with a
wife of Lady Macbeth evil proportions) and shoot-outs and car chases to keep
the action lively.
Then there's the terrorist units - two cells, one led by Ira Gaines (a for-hire,
take-no-shit mercenary) and the other fronted by the Serbians themselves,
who have their own reasons for targeting Bauer and Palmer on the same day.
To go
into too many more of the plot details would be ruining the fun for anyone
who hasn't seen it, suffice to say that this is the type of television which
genuinely feels like something special and ground-breaking. I know Sunday
nights won't feel the same!
And under-pinning the action are the performances - all of which are exceptional.
Sutherland, in particular, manages to strike a near-perfect balance between
the action and the moral dilemmas (he has been nominated for one of 10 Emmys);
while Haysbert has been a revelation as the proud and right-minded senator
trying to run for President while keeping his family intact.
A second series is in the pipeline and is previewed on the DVD (along with
an alternative ending), but in terms of quality, 24 - with its split screens
and dizzying camera techniques - has very few rivals (only Six Feet Under,
ER, The Sopranos, The West Wing and NYPD Blue really come close). It is television
so good, you can hardly bare to take your eyes off it!
