Jack's (Finally) Back!

• Nov 11, 2008, 04:11 AM ET
• by David Hochman

A long time ago, in a prime-time lineup far, far away, Jack Bauer kissed his sleeping beauty Audrey good-bye, flung his gun off a cliff and left millions of fans speculating about his future plans. Little did we know a writers' strike, presidential politics and the World Series would conspire to keep us guessing Jack's fate for another year and a half. After way too many delays, 24's looong-awaited Season 7 arrives January 11 on Fox, but there's relief coming in the form of 24: Redemption, an exotic two-hour prequel movie that puts Jack back where we like him: on the clock and under the gun.

"With the prequel it's like we're saying, 'Hey, remember us?'" says Kiefer Sutherland, adding he's as anxious as anyone for the new season to start. "You want to make sure the interest is still there. So we thought we'd offer a little taste—an appetizer—before the big feast to come."

An odd metaphor considering we've never actually seen Jack eat (even sipping a glass of water would slow the action too much, producers say), but we'll take it and one-up it. The prequel's a veritable pupu platter of 24 goodness: ruthless villains, high-level double-crossings, explosions galore and, of course, one jaw-clenching, adrenaline-throttled hero at the center making sense of it all in real time.

But Redemption is 24 with a difference. After years in the Los Angeles sunshine, this one's shot on location in South Africa, where JB has arrived after a globe-trotting journey of self-discovery. At least that's how Sutherland sees it. Over a long conversation recently at the actor's favorite Thai place in an L.A. strip mall, Sutherland says he's so deeply invested in his character, he keeps a handwritten journal of Jack's thoughts.

"Before each season, I write a character book to get my head in sync with Jack's and create a backstory," he says. "This year, I wrote that Jack would have to disappear from the Western world and go back where he started in Season 1—dealing with the Eastern bloc. He knows people there and could hide out before working his way from Kazakhstan, through the Middle East, across India and then down into Africa to meet his old friend Carl. That's where the prequel—and trouble—begins."

Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle) is Jack's buddy whose efforts to educate poor African children as a missionary are overthrown by a baddie warlord (Tony Todd) who drafts kids into his militia. Next thing you know, there's a bloody coup under way. If this sounds like an invitation for Jack to get off the backpacker circuit and return to saving the world, you're right. "During one of the scenes, I playfully slapped Kiefer on the arm and the whole set went, 'No! You never touch Jack Bauer when he's working,'" says Carlyle, an actor best known for "The Full Monty" and a good friend of Sutherland. Says Kiefer, "I was so eager for Bobby to play this role, I called him and said, 'I'll give you whatever you want. I'll wash your car for a year. I'll babysit the kids.' He said, 'Actually, I'll do it if you don't babysit the kids.'"

Back in Washington, meanwhile, the winds of change are a-blowin'. Three years have passed since the end of Season 6 and it's Inauguration Day for the first female commander in chief, Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). The drama unfolding in Africa is about to become priority one the minute Madame President is sworn in. "In plays, the stakes are often high with one or two characters," says Jones, a two-time Tony Award winner. "But on 24, every single moment in every scene with every character is a high-stakes moment. It's very cool."

What's also cool is seeing Jack in a completely new setting. The prequel was shot earlier this year in South Africa, a lush backdrop far from the blinking screens of CTU. "Especially since Season 6 ended with Jack in kind of a downer mode, we wanted to breathe fresh air into the show," says coexecutive producer Howard Gordon. "L.A. was feeling tired, and making Jack a stranger in a strange land lets us reenergize the world of 24."

For more on 24, pick up the new issue of TV Guide, on sale now.