Jack's finally back.

Between the writer's strike and star Kiefer Sutherland's sojourn in jail, there was no 24 series in 2008. To make up for that, Fox offers up a two-hour movie, 24: Redemption airing at 8 p.m. Nov. 23 on Fox. Here we find the world-weary Jack working for a school in Africa, called upon to help children being snatched by a warlord for his militia.

The villain, Jonas Hodges, is introduced in the movie and will carry over to the series.

"This guy is a very bad fellow, and in the movie we set up the pattern for what kind of fellow he is," says Jon Voight, who plays Hodges. "As for the series, he's getting written as we go along, so if I add a little humor or bizarre thing that works, the writers will play into that and adjust."

Sutherland says the movie sets up the conflict that continues when the series returns in January 2009.

"I'm not sure about (Robert Carlyle's character), but almost all of the other characters will be appearing in the series when we come back," Sutherland says. "This was an idea that we had to start out season seven, but we couldn't make it work. And the fact that we've been off the air for as long as we were, we just wanted to have something out in November instead of waiting until January, which is two years after the last 24 started."

Much has happened in that time to both Jack and Kiefer. In the real world, 24 got derailed by the writer's strike, which might have been a blessing in disguise. Last December, Sutherland began serving a 48-day jail term after a second drunk driving conviction and probation violation.

"Obviously, because of a stupid thing that I did, the writer's strike made it easier for me to serve my jail time, which I completed in the middle of January of this year," a contrite Sutherland says. "I made a dumb mistake and was able to go back to work, which is a safe place for me. I was grateful to have the opportunity to go back to work. I've had friends who have made similar mistakes and have not been that lucky. I'm very aware of how lucky I was to have that opportunity to come back to a job I love."

And his jail time probably helped put him into the same space that Jack occupies when we catch up with him again in this movie. Sutherland says that Jack has changed since viewers first met him in fall 2001.

"From the first season, when I'm dealing with the death of my wife and the destruction of my family, through the last season when I had lost everything, including CTU, all that weight starts to effect Jack," Sutherland says. "It effects him physically and it effects him emotionally, and we really see this in the movie and in season seven."

Did he mention no more CTU? Apparently, CTU has been disbanded sometime between season six and season seven. Does that mean no more phone calls with dear Chloe?

"CTU has been replaced by the FBI in season seven," Sutherland says. "But Chloe is certainly there."

And, oddly enough, so is a character that had clearly been killed off: Tony Almeida.

"It was kind of a challenging thing for the writers to bring him back literally from the dead," Sutherland says of the popular character getting resurrected. "But the storyline plays a major part in setting up the whole new season. There's no real conflict between Tony and Jack; we just address a larger conflict. I think it is one of the most creative storylines we've done on the show."

As for Jack, expect him to change and grow as the series progresses.

"This season you will see a Jack who is carrying the weight of the last six seasons," Sutherland says. "What is most important to remember is that Jack was disillusioned by the fact that he had been manipulated into doing things he didn't like doing and we was leaving this world behind him. I think you'll see a much more free person than what he was in season six."

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