24 Season 4 - DVD Review

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Review

Last week: “Dear Diary, Very little has happened to me this week. Had argument with the mailman, met with Mrs Blick from next door to complain about the noise and spent the rest of the day watching TV. Very little to write home about.”

This Week: “ Dear Diary, You’re not going to believe this! My wife and daughter have been kidnapped. My boss may or may not be a double agent. Terrorists have plotted to assassinate the new President of the United States, detonate a dirty bomb in the middle of L.A and release a killer virus. Now those dastardly terrorists have got their grubby mitts on nuclear weapons. Boy, am I having a bad week at work.”



Jack Bauer is back. The drama template is back with him. 24 episodes, one hour in length [45 minutes when robbed of the ad-breaks] and full to the brim with explosions, secret agents, deceit and double agents. We have our villains, we have our hero with a troubled soul and- most importantly of all- we have an abundance of action. With American television companies all across the land of the free desperate to stab creativity in the back and throw all their eggs into the reality TV basket, it’s important that emotional, character driven dramas like 24 continue to excite and entertain. Rupert Murdoch smelled the scent of dollars and removed 24 from its BBC slot and returned it to its master’s bosom by airing new episodes from the FOX produced show in the UK on SKY ONE. To see series four of 24 you need a dish or a DVD. With that in mind, it’s reassuring to realise that the 24 Series 4 box set comes complete with a cavalcade of extras and special features.

The 40 deleted scenes with optional commentary will have hardened fans wetting themselves. The feature on the fictional new Counter Terrorism Unit that appears in the series is both interesting and topical given recent events across the world spectrum. London and Egypt have both had recent experience of the darkness made by man. It might be fictional, but it’s reassuring to know that someone somewhere is dedicated to fighting the terrorist threat. We all need a hero like Jack Bauer in our daily lives. Someone to tackle the things we shrink from. The Longest Day music video appears to have been included to make up the numbers and the last thing you want to watch after being bombarded by the intensity of the split-screen pioneering television drama is a music video.



The Season Four box set release includes a special feature documentary on the making of ’24: The Game’ which will be released on Playstation 2 next year. Never before has a special feature said much more than it meant to about the drama series it accompanies. There picture and sound quality of this DVD release are superb and ’24: Season 4’ is- as Johnny Vaughan might put it- “stunning, high octane fun”. This series is for those of us who miss the spy dramas and have grown bored of the James Bond franchise’s penchant for style and glamour over content and plot. But- and I hasten to look both ways and behind me before I even suggest this- isn’t all this just a little bit silly? In one week, terrorists try to assassinate the President, try to detonate a dirty bomb, release a killer virus and steal a nuclear weapon? How far does drama have to step into the bizarre, the odd and the eccentric before it becomes a video game played out on the glass teat in the corner? Aren’t we already playing the 24 video game?



24 is a victim of its success. BBC drama ‘Spooks’ now uses split-screen techniques ad nausea. British network FIVE regular have orgies filled with CSI episodes. Drama has moved on and the public want to see new-fangled approaches to the human condition and the dangerous situation. What are the terrorists going to do next in 24? Take over a charming, seaside sweet shop in Dorset? “24: Season Four” commits the criminal offence of not showcasing the talents of Elisha Cuthbert who previously played Jack Bauer’s daughter. The drama is superb but the cracks have begun to appear and it will not be long before the cracks widen and deepen. How long before the writing slips? How long before the creative geniuses behind this series realise they are flogging a dead horse? With 24 it is fortunate that the series is so concerned with the passing of time. For only time will tell how long the series has left.

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