24 Latest: Bill is BACK + Production delay

Right after telling the world that he wouldn't be returning for Season 7, it appears the silver fox of CTU - Bill Buchanon - will now be returning to the hit series. And he's understandably very happy about it. On his personal website, actor James Morrison says:

"I'm going to back to the show after all. And I'm very happy about it. I'll let you know more when I can."

Great news out there for all Bill fans.

Also, production has been delayed until the back end of September while the producers tweak the scripts even further.

In other news, Gary Oldman has allegedly turned down a role in the show due to a scheduling clash. His agent however has decided to keep the door open by refusing to rule out the story. Interestingly, Oldman and Kiefer Sutherland are old drinking buddies and actually share an arrest.......

Aaron Pierce Return + 24 Moves To DC!

Interesting news emanating from Comic Con this week where the shows executive producers fielded questions from the show's hardcore fan base.

Here's the headlines:

- CTU has been disbanded by the government and will play no role in Season 7. It is likely to be replaced by a branch of the FBI.

- The L.A. setting has been dropped and the entire series will play out in Washington DC.

- Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brien are the only confirmed returnees. The show will feature it's 'freshest' cast ever.

- Very strong of chance of Glen Morshower reprising his role as Aaron Pierce (above left) for Season 7. Great News!

- Producers refuse to confirm whether either Tony Almeida, Charles Logan or Wayne Palmer are actually dead. Keep watching is the message.

- An alternative ending to Season 6 was considered - featuring Tony Almedia. The idea was for Tony to confront Jack at the Heller Beach House as Jack was over looking the cliff. This could be a clear indicator from the show makers that they believe Tony can be brought back plausibly.

- They wanted to cast Donald Sutherland (Kiefer's father) as Philip Bauer but couldn't strike a deal.

- Jack Bauer will be forced to defend his actions over the years in front the Senate Commitee. This blogger believes this could lead to cameo's for other supporting characters to give evidence for or against Jack.

- Chase Edmonds is definitely not coming back to the show.

Overall interesting news without giving us anything major. We we're hoping for some more casting news but the powers that be are clearly playing their cards close to their chests. With some luck the deal to bring back Aaron Pearce will happen which would be sensational news for hardcore fans.

Another New President in 24 + Kim Wants In!

Interesting news coming out of 24 this week - a new president has been cast for Day 7 and by golly it's a women - just as we predicted on these pages.

The woman in the frame is Cherry Jones who had a small role in Ocean's 12. It does now look like the 24 team are looking to do a Hillary Clinton-esque portrayl.

Politically on the show this is an interesting situation which needs to address a few loose ends.

1. Is she a Democrat or Republican? One would presume Republican (mainly because on Day 6 the Democrats were in power and surely either Wayne Palmer or Noah Daniels would be in the boxseat). However, there is the possibly, that if Daniels did replace Wayne, then the new Pres could have won a leadership contest between her and Daniels. There is also the interesting question if they could cast a women as the leader of the Republican party (a nigh on impossible development in real life).

2. Wayne Palmer - did he die? We need to know, we've lost one Palmer already on this show and if they don't give us some clarity on Wayne's situation I'll be P.O'ed.

3. Daniels - again some clarity on his removal from office would be nice.

4. Heller/Novick - if the new President of the United States is Republican then what odds for James Heller and Mike Novick to return. Heller has unfinished business with Jack Bauer in my opinion and a season of 24 is always better when Novick is involved. I missed both characters in Day 6, Heller's cameos were great but he should have been given more to do and a Republican cabinet could bring these two back into the fold.

5. President's head of security - the Bring Back Special Agent Aaron Pearce campaign starts here. With any luck Martha has topped herself and the big guy can get back to doing what he does best - kicking ass.

6. Charles Logan - again, simple question - dead or alive?

While all the talk is of a brand new cast minus Jack and the tedious Chloe, all the above characters would be more than welcome back in my opinion.

One return that could happen, which would be brilliant, is that of Kim Bauer. Elisha Cuthbert has revealed she'd love to come back, but one expects it may be for the movie.

"I'll be waiting by the phone, I'm ready whenever they are. I love the show so much!"

Message to the powers that be: Make it happen.

New Pres - Click here.

Kim Comeback - Click here

24 Season 7 Update: Chloe Returns, Bill Buchanan Axed, Africa Plot Vetoed, Shooting Delayed & Kiefer's Hint

24 uber-geek Chloe O'Brien (left) has been confirmed as a definite returnee for the highly anticipated season 7 of the Sky One drama.

Producers had indicated that the show was set to go in a new direction with only Jack returning as well as a few old favourites. It appears that Chloe is one of them. Interestingly Chloe found out she was pregnant at the end of season 6, so we may even see a bambino O'Brien in the up-coming season. No word on her on/off partner Morris as yet - maybe he'll be looking after the toddler while Chloe helps Bauer down the bad guys?

One 24 favourite who will not be returning, as things stand, is old safe hands himself Bill Buchanan - played by James Morrison (not the singer with the feminine haircut). The silver fox of CTU appears to be out of the picture as James said this on his personal website:

"At present, it looks as though I will not be back for season seven, since the show is moving in new directions. "

If Buchanan is out of the game then it's a safe assumption that Karen Hayes will be as well. We've already reported that Tom Lennox is unlikely to feature in anything more than a guest appearance which would indicate that D.B Woodside's President Wayne Palmer is also firmly out of the picture. A presidential story is still expected though with the smart money being a on 24's first female President.

Meanwhile, the shooting of season 7 has been put back 3 weeks thanks to a script re-write. The producers had planned on subplot based in Africa, but after failing to find a suitable fake location, the story writers have been forced to re-think this premise. Here's what Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brien, above left) had to say:

"I don't know what's going on over there, but they're going crazy,"

"We usually start [back up] at the end of July, and I don't think we're starting until a couple weeks into August now. It's kind of exciting, because I think [the postponement] means that they're really having to dig in there and come up with new stuff."

With only Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) and Chloe confirmed up to now it is looking like a whole new concept for season 7 with no CTU involement whatsoever. While filming a Citroen ad (no accounting for taste there Kiefer) in Brazil, Sutherland revealed this juicy tidbit about the forthcoming plot:

“Bauer will be his own boss, at the end of the sixth season he’s tired, disillusioned with the government and doesn’t want to have anything more to do with the presidency,”

“He’s going to be on his own.”

Sounds good, but not entirely accurate, as we know Chloe is going to pop up in some capacity, probably as early as episode one.

Chloe Returns + Africa Plot & Production Delays

Bill Buchanan Out Of The Picture

Kiefer's Season 7 Tidbit

Female President on 24?

24 could be set for it's first ever female president in Season 7 according to numerous online sources. The ground breaking show was the first program to put a black politician in the President's chair and the producers are said to be lining up a women to boss The White House in Season 7.

This comes off the back of news that there will be few surviving cast members from previous 24 outings. Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer remains a certainty and Chloe O'Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is also extremely likely but anyone else remains unclear.

As reported earlier, Tom Lennox (Peter MacNicol) looks to be out of the equation due to his re-transfer to Numbers, while Wayne Palmer (DB Woodside) and Noah Daniels (Powers Boothe) are almost definitely out should a new charge be cast in the Presidential position.

Intersetingly, it has been stated the producers would like to cast a women due to the fact Hillary Clinton may be running for the Presidency in real life. If the producers were to go a step further and cast Sherry Palmer (Penny Johnson Jerald) or Martha Logan (Jean Smart) then it could really be a case of art imitating life. Both are unlikely though - storyline wise Martha Logan wouldn't appear to have the mental strength, while Sherry's 'dead or alive' status is very much unconfirmed.

Female President for Season 7

24 set to run and run?

More good news for all fans of the Golden Globe winning show 24 because it's been confirmed that the US network Fox has commissioned a further two more series which run until 2009.

The word is that 24s executive producers are likely to make some changes but the focus will remain very much on special agent Jack Bauer.

'Presumed Dead' Star to Return to 24?

Speculation is now buzzing around 24 fan sites that the Season Finale will herald the return of a previous star who was presumed dead on the show.

The closing minutes of the Season 6 Finale are rumoured to concern a showdown between Jack Bauer and a former 24 character that we all presumed was now pushing up daisies. The rumour mill has stated that the return will be a big name and will shock 'long time' fans.

Hot favourite is Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) who we saw 'die' midway through Season 5 after a lethal injection. Quite how the producers could bring back Tony we don't know as it seemed apparent that he was a goner at the time. Fans were outraged at the low key nature of Tony's death and there is a belief amongst fans that the former CTU loyalist should be brought back from beyond the grave.

The clues are that the returnee will carry some major shock value and no return would be more shocking than that of President Palmer. The last time we saw The Big Man was when he took a bullet in the neck during the opening minutes of Season 5. Conspiracy theorists like the sound of an assasination cover-up but we believe there is pretty much no chance that Dennis Haysbert will be reprising his role. Haysbert has recently hit out at the show for knocking off the Palmer character which would make a return all the more unlikely: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/article2525596.ece

Outside bets include bad guy Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller) and former CTU Directors Ryan Chappelle and George Mason. From a storyline perspective only Henderson could surely be brought back, he was shot by Jack in the 23rd hour of Season 5 just after making a deal with Bauer to fake his own death. At the time it appeared it Jack reneged on the deal - but the twist could be that Jack did indeed help his enemy disappear into the sunset. With Mason blown to pieces in a nuclear blast, albeit off screen, his chances of returning seem nil, as do Chappelle's who was shot in the back of the head by Jack from point blank range.

The only 'presumed dead' character that could feasibly be brought back, in our opinion is Sherry Palmer. Again, the last time we saw Sherry she had also taken a bullet, however it was potentially non-fatal and the shot was fired by a civilian - not a trained marksman. Ever since this 'death' Sherry has never been confirmed as being dead on the show and was even referred to in Season 5, but quite ambiguously. The producers have clearly left the door open for Penny Johnson Jerald to come back if she wishes.

However, all rumours point to the returning star being male in which case we think it's between Henderson and Tony. Judging by the character's popularity, a recent on-set appearance and his somewhat lame death scene, we're backing Tony to be the guy who returns at the end of Season 6 in a role currently classified as 'To Be Determined.'