What a Difference a Day Makes (24)

Member Name: TJ-Mackey

Product:	24
Date:	28/03/02 (383 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast moving , well produced, engrossing

Disadvantages: Difficult to attract new viewers

Pop quiz. It's past midnight, your daughter's gone missing, you work for a counter terrorist unit and you've just got word that an attempt will be made on the life of a leading presidential candidate within the next twenty-four hours. What'd you do?

In federal agent Jack Bauer's case, you get on with it. Working for the government funded Counter Terrorist Unit, he must prevent the assassination of Senator David Palmer, the first African-American with a real chance of getting into the White House, while also trying to identify a possible mole in his own team. Meanwhile, Jack's daughter Kim has disappeared, leaving his estranged wife Teri to search for her on the dark and dangerous streets of Los Angeles. This all happens in the first hour of the new American TV show '24' - between the hours of 12 midnight and 1 AM. The novelty of the show, if you will, is that each episode follows events as they happen in real time.

I don't think I've been as engrossed in a television programme such as this since the first season of the excellent 'Murder One' first hit our screens around seven years ago. Already there are the multiple plot lines and characters that will surely become even more complicated, but also the indication that their relationships are strongly intertwined. The show overcomes the inherent problem of showing parallel storylines in real time by making use of a split-screen technique that allows us to follow events simultaneously. Far from being distracting, this actually furthers the tension of each episode, and is perhaps even more effective at showing the passing of time than the digital clock that regularly appears on-screen.

Keifer Sutherland in the lead role is impressive. He recently picked up a Golden Globe for his performance in '24', and it's certainly he who holds the show together in these early episodes. The rest of the cast is made up of unknowns or the type of act
ors you know you recognise, but can't remember what they've been in before. This is effective in keeping us guessing as to whom we can trust, but also allows the characters more believably, in much the same way as the casting of lesser known actors in 'Band of Brothers' worked so well.

After four episodes, most of the characters are well established, and it's now the ever-moving plot that's driving the series. It's a credit to the editing work on '24' that so little exposition was needed at the beginning of the series, and with the tension and cliff-hangers in all the appropriate places, the viewer is on the edge of their seat by the end of each episode. As the final few seconds pass on the digital display, there's a definite feeling that more will be built upon in the next instalment, and before you know it you're hooked. At present this format is working well, but it'll certainly be interesting to see how the writers maintain our interests over the remaining 20 hours.

Already, '24' is showing signs of slight predictability in the episode structure, and of course it's biggest strength - the ongoing relationship between the viewer and the characters - is also it's biggest weakness in terms of audience figures. Like 'Murder One', it will become increasingly difficult to pick up new viewers as the series progresses; but if you haven't tuned in yet, you're in luck. The BBC are repeating the first 4 episodes back-to-back this Saturday (March 30th) - the perfect opportunity to catch up with this promising show before you fall too far behind.

Episodes are broadcast on BBC2 at 10 PM on Sundays, with repeats every Friday on BBC Choice.

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