Jack Bauer returns in the action and suspense packed drama 24. Last time we left him, the longest day of his life was just ending. He had just found his wife dead, his daughter probably scarred for life after being kidnapped and CTU finally catching the traitor Nina Myers. The threat on presidential candidate Senator David Palmer's life eliminated.

It's 1 year later. Jack has been estranged from his daughter Kim, who blames him for her mothers death. He is no longer working for CTU.

Meanwhile interrogation has yielded information that there is a nuclear bomb set to go off in Los Angeles... today!

The counter terrorist unit sweeps into action, lead once again by George Mason with Toni almedia. Some new faces are also here, including Michelle.

David palmer has won the elections and is now president. He's called out of a fishing trip with his son to run the show from a bunker (a very large and strangely ready one).

Kim, meanwhile is babysitting in her new job. A young girl with two young parents. They bond almost instantly.

But the father is abusing the wife and the daughter. So Kim takes things into her own hands and gets the daughter out. She has to avoid the father, get the daughter to a safe place and get away from the bomb.

Then we have the Warner family. Razer and Marie Warner are due to be married by the end of the day. Preparations are underway, but something seems fishy about the middle eastern groom to be. They are new for this series.

The balls are set into motion and we know we've got another thrilling 24 hours ahead of us. Time is running out.

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Characters
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The main cast returns for this series, including some unexpected appearances:

Keither Sutherland - Jack Bauer, the main guy, he seems to know everything and be able to do everything. All round hero

Elisha Cuthburt - Kim Bauer, tough girl. In series one she was very delicate, but now she's tougher and more ready for action. She's certainly taking after her Dad

Xander Berkley - George Mason, Head of CTU, really asserts control. But goes through a transformation and starts being more friendly, more human after he realises something in this series.

Dennis Haysbert - President David Palmer, He's just survived an assassination attempt, now a bomb threat!

Penny Johnson Jerald - Sherri Palmer, the hard hitting ex-wife of David palmer who seems to have contacts everywhere. She can scheme and will always have her own agenda. Not trustworthy, but has her uses.

Sarah Clarke - Nina Myers, last we saw her, she killed Terri Bauer and was arrested. But I think it's time for a surprise entrance!

Carlos Bernard - Toni Almeda, he's the down to earth guy who's kind of George's right hand man. He insures everything gets done.

Ryan Shapell, The head of district, always treading on CTU's fingers. Often prevents them from doing their jobs properly in favour of "protocol"

There's also a whole host of new cast members as well. Some have been introduced just for this series, others are new permanent members:

Robert Kingsly, The main bad guy who we only discover near the end.

Marie Warner, She's a sweet innocent girl. Is she? Well, she's going to be caught up in the days events, that's for sure.

Sarah Wynter - Kate Warner, something's going on between Jack and Kate in this series. Kate becomes part of this through her sister and the wedding. I can't tell you exactly how though can I!!

Razer, due to marry Marie during the day. This is 24, do you really think it'll happen!? There's a plot twist afoot methinks.

Michelle Desler - Reiko Aylesworth, a love interest for Toni I think! She's the new girl, working at CTU, making sure Jack gets everything he needs to operate. She'll be back for series 3.

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Storyline
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Writing a review on this is almost impossible. If I tell you about anything other than the opening episode, I'll ruin the rest.

Needless to say, CTU calls Jack back in (who heroically shaves off his new found beard at the end of episode 1). Kim gets herself in a lot of trouble, and you never know who else is good or bad.

There are some huge surprises in this series, including the bomb going off half way through (I'll give you that one) and it ending up being a hunt for the people who did it.

The twists and turns are all over the place. I still can't believe some of them! But in the quest to find the bomb, stop the bomb, then find the people behind it, there's tonnes of sub plots along the way.

Kim, of course, has her own storyline. This isn't integrated very well with the rest of the story and too much is left down to coincidence. But still, it's a great series.

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Improvements
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After learning from series one, there have been vast improvements to the script quality and continuity. The direction of the story is more clear and the episodes better planned. There is a breather episode where everything kind of stops. In any other series this would be a repeats show, but the only repeat ever in 24 has been at the end of series 1 when they flash back to the start of the day.

However, it's a great show and they've really got it right now, perfected their art.

This series starts at 8am. It stops you from wondering why everyone is up at midnight! Plus it shows off their lighting effects more at the start, that they can make the entire day look like it was filmed at 8am. Brilliant!

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Scope
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The first series revolved around David Palmer, Jack, his wife and his daughter. This series could have ended with the destruction of Los Angeles and the start of world war 3.

This adds to the excitement, adds to the suspense and increases the storyline width. They now had many more people they could bring in.

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DVD Extras
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Series 1 had the worst extras ever created on it! A preview to series two which consisted of Keither Sutherland standing against a plain background saying "you can expect more action, more storyline, bigger explosions and more suspense than ever before"... How disappointing to us fans!!

However, on this DVD there is an entire disk devoted to extras (they had 6, why not throw in 1 more!). There's also deleted scenes which you can integrate into the episodes (though you lose track because some of them repeat themselves and it just feels weird watching it).

There's tonnes of documentaries and behind the scenes bits. This is what I wanted out of the season 1 boxset!!

The extras were brilliant. Plus delivery of the boxset took place 3 days before the final episode, so I could watch the thrilling end before it was broadcast. Cheating I know, but I really wanted to see it.

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Conclusion
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Series 3 is already past the half way mark on sky. If you're a 24 fan, why don't you have this box set yet!! You must have seen this series on TV and it's well worth the money getting the DVD. Watch all the episodes again and try and work out when the script writers decided a twist was coming!

If you're not a 24 fan, I dare you to watch the first 2 episodes (the first one is a bit slow to start). You will be dragged in, kicking and screaming, not being able to leave until you've seen all 24 episodes.

Series 3 is on our screens 9pm Thurs Sky 1 now... the DVD boxset is released on the 26th July. Expect a review on the 27th July.