COUNTDOWN To celebrate the return of the adrenaline-pumping action of 24, Henry Northmore runs through 24 facts you may or may not know
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‘It didn’t feel right to ask these kids to make a l uffy fantasy’
tramlines of making a serious film,’ he jokes now, ‘although I think everyone else seemed to enjoy it. We were living the dream, but we weren’t overawed by it because we’d waited so long and had it written in our heads. I think it worked because it didn’t patronise anyone; there was a level of honesty that you don’t normally get in teen films. It was hangdog, but very friendly.’ Both films are essential, not just for their place in Scottish film history, but for Forsyth’s perfectly drawn characters and firm grasp of the country’s character at the time, a bittersweet blend of the romantic and the downtrodden, the humorous and the self- deprecating. Yet to call them Scottish films, he says, is to misunderstand. ‘The one thing I would say about Scotland is that it’s just like anywhere else in the developed world, I’m not interested in looking for differences, I’m much more interested in dealing with how we’re all the same.’
That Sinking Feeling is re-released on BluRay and DVD on Mon 21 Apr by BFI. A restored version of Gregory’s Girl is out on Mon 5 May by Second Sight.
1 Kiefer Sutherland wasn’t the only actor considered for the role of Jack Bauer: Richard Burgi was also in the running (although Burgi did appear in 11 episodes of the first season).
2 Other interesting casting choices that didn’t happen: Katee Sackoff (Battlestar Galactica)
almost landed the role of Jack’s daughter Kim; Eva Longoria was nearly cast as Claudia in season three; and, most regrettably of all, Donald Sutherland missed out on playing Jack’s father due to filming commitments, and the role went to James Cromwell.
3 24 isn’t the first TV show to utilise real-time storytelling. Dragnet ran a special episode,
‘City Hall Bombing’, way back in 1949, while M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends and The X-Files all used the gimmick before 24 first broadcast in 2001.
the show from season two onwards.
4 Keifer Sutherland became a producer on 5 Jack Bauer was born on 18 February 1966. 6 Jack Bauer has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a master’s degree in
criminology and law.
7 Proving he’s the hardest man on television, Jack Bauer has killed 270 people over
eight series and one TV movie (according to 24.wikia.com).
8 That’s 1.4 individuals an hour. 9 It doesn’t always go Jack’s way, though: he has been killed (and brought back from
the dead) twice.
10 The overall body count so far stands at a massive 14,891 (mainly due to a nuclear
explosion during Day 6).
11 Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays Counter Terrorist Unit computer genius Chloe O’Brian, used to share a flat with comedian Sarah Silverman.
in 2007.
on PlayStation 2 in 2006).
14 But only one 24 videogame (released 15 Tesco sold a 24: CTU energy drink 16 Sean Callery, who composed 24’s relentless theme tune, also wrote music for Siegfried and Roy’s Las Vegas magic show in the 80s.
17 Most people know about Stephen Merchant’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
cameo in Day 6. ‘I imagined that I was setting up a Jack Bauer Facebook page,’ he told Richard Herring on his Leicester Square podcast. ‘Just a blog; he didn’t have time to write it himself.’
18 Fewer people know Ricky Gervais also filmed a comedy cameo as a
presidential aide. You can find it on the DVD extras for Day 6.
19 The 24 team must love actor Tony Todd (Candyman). He played Detective Norris
in Day 3 then becomes the main villain, General Juma, in Redemption and Day 7.
20 In 2010, plans for a Die Hard / 24 crossover movie (featuring both Bruce
Willis and Sutherland) started circulating. Sadly it never made it off the drawing board.
21 Somewhat confusingly, new series, 24: Live Another Day, only has 12 episodes. Apparently events will play out in real time but it will jump forward and skip certain hours.
22 Jon Cassar will be directing six of the 12 episodes. He’s already directed 60 episodes (including the feature-length Redemption) and won two Emmys for his work on the show, so we’re in safe hands.
23 Live Another Day is set in London. ‘24 has always had such a global
sensibility,’ adds Sutherland. ‘But to be able to tell this intense 24-style story with the beauty of Europe’s history and architecture as the backdrop is going to be fascinating.’
12 There are 11 official 24 novels. 13 There have been three 24 boardgames including a special edition of Cluedo.
24 And Stephen Fry plays the Prime Minister!
24: Live Another Day, Sky 1, Wed 7 May, 9pm.
17 Apr–15 May 2014 THE LIST 29