24 season 7 gets a start date

After originally falling victim to the writers’ strike of last year, the seventh season of 24 now has its January 2009 air date. The show has effectively taken a year off, given that around eight episodes were in the can by the time the aforementioned strike kicked in. But 24 wouldn’t be 24 if it didn’t run at least an episode a week, and thus when it became clear that the strike would stop that happening, the call was made to delay season seven by a full year.

And it’s a been a long wait. The muddled season six hasn’t been much company either, but the next couple of months promise lots of goodness for the 24 fan. Later this month, we get the TV movie 24: Redemption, which will also be heading to DVD at the start of December. Plus, we now know that season seven will kick off on January 11th in the States, with the UK broadcast set to follow quickly.

The US premiere will feature two episodes on the 11th January and another two on 12th January, before it settles down into its weekly regular slot.

And you know something? We can’t wait…

The 24 season 7 trailer is here.

24: Redemption: pictures and first reviews here.