24 = Twenty-four Season one [DVD]

When “24” was launched on US television it became an immediate cult success. Using real-time it explores the activities of a Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles as they work against the clock combating sophisticated crimes. Features split screens, multiple narrative threads and the latest technology, displaying the tension and complexity of dealing with crimes that span the globe. In series one, set on the day of the California Presidential Primary elections, Jack Bauer and his staff discover an attempt will be made on politician David Palmer’s life. Whilst battling to foil the assassination, Jack suspects that a double-crosser is working within the CTU. Meanwhile Jack’s daughter has snuck out of the house, and is missing, but unbeknownst to her she is a part of the intricate assassination plot. In other narrative threads, Teri Bauer, Jack’s estranged wife, tries to track down her daughter but is also in grave danger. Throughout the unravelling of the twenty-four hours, this drama is incredibly suspenseful, as the protagonists are put through major trauma, whilst dealing with death, murder, violence, blackmail, traitors and the complexity of terrorism and crime. Technology is a major part of the texture of the narrative here: mobile phones, electronic tracking devices, cameras, computers, satellites, the constant hacking and breaking of codes, all add to a sense that electronic machinery can be a menacing force, both friend and foe. But to the writers’ credit, the show also has a great deal of humanity - it ably captures the sense of foreboding, particularly for Jack, whose personal and professional life is compromised under extreme circumstances. Cast includes Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Clarke, Elisha Cuthbert, Xander Berkeley, Dennis Haysbert and Penny Johnson.