JACK IS BACK

(ITS MOTTO MAY AS WELL BE, “TRUST NO ONE, ESPECIALLY THE PERSON YOU THINK YOU CAN TRUST THE MOST”), THE SHOW HAS HOOKED FANS ALL OVER THE GLOBE. oNE WELL-KNOWN AFICIONADO, PRESIDENT GEORGE fi bUSH, ONCE TOLD REGULAR 24 CAST MEMBER ¢ARLOS bERNARD THAT, “aLL i CAN DO IS WATCH THAT SHOW OF YOURS”.

i MEET sUTHERLAND ON THE SET OF THE NINTH SEASON, 24: lIVE aNOTHER dAY. iT IS BEING SHOT IN A SUITABLY DISTRESSED, DERELICT FACTORY IN WEST lONDON. sUTHERLAND, WHO WAS BORN IN lONDON, SUMS UP THE PLOT OF 24: lIVE aNOTHER dAY THUS: “JACK WILL HAVE A CRAPPY DAY AND BE TESTED IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS!”

sINCE THE END OF THE LAST SERIES IN 2010, JACK HAS BEEN LYING LOW IN eASTERN eUROPE. bUT HE RESURFACES IN lONDON WHEN HE HEARS OF A TERRORIST PLAN TO WREAK HAVOC. ffiET AGAIN, HE HAS JUST 24 HOURS TO SAVE THE WORLD.

HE TEAMS UP WITH HIS LONG-TIME COHORT, GEEKY COMPUTER GENIUS AND FIRM FAN FAVOURITE, ¢HLOE o’bRIAN (42-YEAR-OLD mARY lYNN rAJSKUB).

tHE SHOW HAS ALWAYS ATTRACTED OBSESSIVE FANS. sOME OF THE MORE OUT-THERE AFICIONADOS ENJOY PLAYING THE 24 DRINKING GAME, IN WHICH THEY HAVE TO NECK AN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE EVERY TIME JACK SAYS HIS CELEBRATED CATCHPHRASE, “dAMMIT, ¢HLOE!”.

sUTHERLAND IS FAR MORE GOOD-HUMOURED THAN HIS FAMOUSLY TIGHT-LIPPED ALTER EGO (JACK IS A MAN WHO HAS NOT KNOWINGLY CRACKED A SMILE IN THE PAST 13 YEARS).

bUT FOR ALL THE SUPER FANS’ OVER-THE-TOP BEHAVIOUR, sUTHERLAND EMBRACES THEIR FIXATION WITH THE SHOW. tHE STAR, WHO IS SITTING ACROSS THE TABLE FROM ME IN THE SORT OF ANONYMOUS INTERVIEW ROOM IN WHICH JACK HAS CONDUCTED SOME OF HIS MORE, ERR, “VIGOROUS” INTERROGATIONS, SAYS, “iN THE PAST WHEN FANS IN THE STREET WOULD CALL OUT TO ME, ‘JACK!’, i DIDN’T RESPOND. bUT NOW i’M PROUD OF IT.”