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.

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.

2. Russian separatists obtain 20 canisters of highly lethal nerve gas, and begin releasing the gas in public locations.

3. The high-ranking government conspirators of the day's events are revealed and Jack must bring them down to avoid national catastrophe.

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 percent 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 (All 24 episodes)
 * Kim Raver as Audrey Raines (23 episodes)
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian (All 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 appearance

 * Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer (2 episodes)

Special guest stars

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

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