It ran for eight seasons and one TV film before it took its seemingly final bow in 2010, but earlier this year it was announced that Kiefer Sutherland would indeed return as Jack Bauer for at least one more season of 24. Subtitled Live Another Day, Fox announced today that the show's return is going to break from the show's existing formula in two significant ways.

The most notable change is that the show has opted to change its core 'one episode = one hour, one season = one day" structure. While the series will still cover one day, and each episode an hour, there will be time jumps between episodes to advance the plot. The series' return will also only be half the length of previous efforts. While some fans might be disappointed to see the show shake off its most distinctive feature, others will likely to be relieved to see the show finally shake off its increasingly restrictive storytelling 'gimmick'. 

The second major announcement is that the new season will be set in London. Although the Redemption film was set in Africa and filmed in Cape Town, the show itself has always been shot in the US. 

Co-showrunner and executive producer Manny Coto said “Jack is soon back on the run and it takes us into the streets of London and in places that break new ground for the show. We’ve shot in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Cape Town — but now we’re in London and Jack’s loose on the streets of Europe, hunted by and hunting bad guys.” Coto's co-showrunner Evan Katz adds "we wanted the show’s return to be an event, and part of that was putting Jack in a very different context".

24 will return to screens next summer. As well as Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Kim Raver will reprise their roles as Chloe and Audrey, with other familiar faces expected to return as well. The new series follows unsuccessful efforts to produce a 24 feature film, and the team behind the mini-series has suggested there could be more 24 episodes after Live Another Day.