24 is back on our screens (in my case an illegally downloaded rip on my computer screen) for season eight and it’s great to see it back. As the only TV show I’m aware of that has been referenced by the torturers at Guantanamo Bay as inspirational, 24 is a thick juicy slab of right wing propaganda that is as deliciously decadent as it is devilishly delightful.

The genius premise of a day in the life of CTU agent and all round hard bastard Jack Bauer played out in real time never ceases to endure as a winning format, and the endless procession of baddies threatening ’democracy’ with nuclear bombs, vials of deadly viruses and massive rocket launchers show no sign of waning.

The whole thing is brilliantly implausible and could so easily in the wrong hands drift into pastiche or parody, but the factor that keeps 24 so damn good is that NOTHING is played for laughs. No-one is winking to the camera or dropping the nod to say, “hey we all know this is total cobblers but play along smart guy”, quite the opposite in fact. Legendary screen presences like Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper, Ray Wise and Tony Todd have all had big roles and wasted absolutely no time in chewing the furniture and acting their collective bollocks off in a fashion riper than an old sock filled with blue cheese. And by God it’s fantastic. The Fox Network are not merely demanding that you suspend your disbelief, they’re making you throw it in an industrial sized skip and set fire to it. More power to ‘em I say. Don’t get me wrong, realism when done well in shows like The Thick of It is highly effective and engaging, but there is something equally commendable about a bunch of hacks sat round a table churning out increasingly insane scenarios in which to place a cast of heart-warmingly two dimensional characters.

Another joy of 24 is spotting familiar faces from stage and screen. Practically not an episode goes by without saying “Hey isn’t that yer man from Buffy The Vampire Slayer?”, “Wasn’t he the bloke with stretchy arms in that X-Files episode?”, or “Jesus, Montgomery from Fame is really bald now”. One can’t help but feel that the intense body count racked up by Jack Bauer alone throughout the show is some kind of Actors Guild contract clause, allowing pretty much every jobbing actor in LA to grab a few minutes of face time before getting their asses capped.

So far the eighth season has been straight outta the top drawer, with notable appearances from The Shield’s Benito Martinez and The Wire’s Domenick Lombardozzi. But special mention must go to star of Slumdog Millionaire Anil Kapoor as President Omar Hassan. He plays a sort of Kofi Annan crossed with Ahmadinejad on valium character who has a Bollywood style coiffured pompadour that is so massive it doesn’t even fit the screen. Seriously go and watch the first episode of season 8, this playa’s hair is so fucking pimped out it doesn’t fit the god-damned screen – take that society! If anything happens to Kapoor over the course of the series I will be genuinely gutted to see the back of the most impressive barnet since Phil Spectre’s demented murder trial wig. Although to be honest it’s highly likely he’ll end up kicking the bucket around episode six, and there has even been a fair bit of internet buzz that Bauer himself will meet his maker in the final episode. Say it ain’t so Fox! Until then I’ll be tuning in every week to find out what those crazy terrorists have been getting up to, and to marvel at Mary Lynn Rajskub’s boat race which increasingly reminds me of a confused, angry duck doing a particularly challenging sudoku puzzle.