Season 5



Season 5 of 24 debuted in the United States on Sunday, January 15, 2006 on Fox. The premiere was a 2 night, 4 hour event (January 15 and 16), and debuted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, February 12, 2006 on Sky One. In New Zealand, Episodes 14-24 were screened at approximately 11.00 pm for two hours, a timeslot that was occupied by repeat screenings. The show was moved from 8.30 pm Friday nights to 11:00 pm Saturday.

The 24: Season Five DVD Collection was released in the UK on November 6, 2006. 24: Season 5 was released on DVD in the U.S. and Canada on December 5th, 2006.

Season overview
Eighteen months after faking his death, Jack Bauer is living under the alias Frank Flynn and renting a room from a single mother and her son. Soon after Former President David Palmer is assassinated, and a car bomb kills Michelle Dessler and leaves Tony Almeida in critical condition. Jack gets a frantic call for help from Chloe O'Brian and he realizes that the four people who know he is still alive are being targeted. Jack returns to CTU Los Angeles to figure out who is really behind the assassination of David Palmer, and uncovers a plot involving deadly nerve gas and people inside President Logan's administration. As Jack searches for the people involved and tries to stop the nerve gas from being released, he discovers that the conspiracy goes higher than anyone could have ever imagined.

Timeline
Day 5 begins at 7:00am PST, taking place 18 months after Day 4 and 7 years and 6 months after Day 1.

Format


Closer to Days 1-3 in format than Day 4, Day 5 can be split into 3 acts:


 * 1) Jack is framed for a series of murders. He heads to LA to clear his name when a hostage situation erupts. The main antagonists in this act are Conrad Haas, Anton Beresch, Walt Cummings and James Nathanson.
 * 2) Russian separatists obtain 20 canisters of highly lethal nerve gas, and begin releasing the gas in public locations. The main antagonists in this act are Christopher Henderson, Vladimir Bierko and Ivan Erwich.
 * 3) The high-ranking government conspirators of the day's events are revealed and Jack must bring them down to avoid national catastrophe. The main antagonists in this act are Charles Logan, Christopher Henderson, Graem Bauer and Vladimir Bierko.

Major subplots

 * The death of major characters such as Former President David Palmer and Michelle Dessler, and the effect it has on other characters.
 * Marital struggles between President Charles Logan and First Lady Martha Logan.
 * Power struggles in CTU between Bill Buchanan and an overseer from District Command.
 * Jack must face his old boss who is involved in the conspiracy.
 * An emotionally destroyed Tony Almeida.
 * The returning relationship of Jack Bauer and Audrey Raines.
 * The return of Kim Bauer.
 * Vice President Hal Gardner shows up and challenges Logan's power.
 * Wayne Palmer seeks revenge for the death of his brother.
 * CTU is taken over by Homeland Security.

Ratings
Season 5 had the highest audience ratings so far. The show improved its overall audience by 14% over its fourth season and by 12 percent in the age 18-49 demographic, averaging a total audience of 13.8 millions, therefore ranking #24 for the 2005-2006 Nielsen TV Season. Even more important, "24" performed particularly well in the key age 18-49 demographic ranking #15 with an average rating of 5.7/13.

Due to the high ratings, Fox decided to re-air Season 5 on Fridays during the summer, showing two episodes per week. However, ratings for the repeated episodes were not as high as expected, so Fox discontinued them.

Along with high ratings, 24 Season 5 was successful at the Emmy's winning Outstanding Drama Series and Kiefer Sutherland winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Main cast

 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer (24 episodes)
 * Kim Raver as Audrey Raines (23 episodes)
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian (24 episodes)
 * Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida (6 episodes)
 * Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan (23 episodes)
 * James Morrison as Bill Buchanan (23 episodes)
 * Roger Cross as Curtis Manning (18 episodes)
 * Louis Lombardi as Edgar Stiles (13 episodes)
 * and Jean Smart as First Lady Martha Logan (23 episodes)

Special guest stars

 * Sean Astin as Lynn McGill (10 episodes)
 * William Devane as James Heller (3 episodes)
 * Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer (2 episodes)
 * Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle Dessler (1 episode)

Special guest appearance

 * Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer (1 episode)

Guest stars

 * Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick (21 episodes)
 * Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce (15 episodes)
 * Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes (12 episodes)
 * Julian Sands as Vladimir Bierko (11 episodes)
 * Sandrine Holt as Evelyn Martin (10 episodes)
 * Stephen Spinella as Miles Papazian (10 episodes)
 * John Allen Nelson as Walt Cummings (7 episodes)
 * DB Woodside as Wayne Palmer (7 episodes)
 * Sean Astin as Lynn McGill (10 episodes)
 * Connie Britton as Diane Huxley (6 episodes)
 * Brady Corbet as Derek Huxley (6 episodes)
 * Nick Jameson as President Yuri Suvarov (6 episodes)
 * Jonah Lotan as Spenser Wolff (6 episodes)
 * Mark Sheppard as Ivan Erwich (6 episodes)
 * Ray Wise as Vice President Hal Gardner (6 episodes)
 * Geraint Wyn Davies as James Nathanson (6 episodes)
 * Kathleen Gati as First Lady Anya Suvarov (5 episodes)
 * Kate Mara as Shari Rothenberg (5 episodes)
 * Paul McCrane as Graem (5 episodes)
 * Stana Katic as Collette Stenger (3 episodes)
 * Henry Ian Cusick as Theo Stoller (2 episodes)
 * C. Thomas Howell as Barry Landes (2 episodes)
 * Carlo Rota as Morris O'Brian (2 episodes)
 * Tzi Ma as Cheng Zhi (1 episode)
 * and Peter Weller as Christopher Henderson (11 episodes)