The fourth season of 24, one of the most innovative, exciting and acclaimed dramas on television, starts on M-Net on May 3 at 21h30.

In its first three seasons, the series won Emmy Awards for writing and editing and received a total of 28 Emmy nominations, including three each for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Kiefer Sutherland.24 has also received seven Golden Globe nominations, including three for Best Television Series - Drama, which it won last season, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Drama for three years, with Sutherland winning once.

Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 will retain its unique format in the fourth season. Each episode will cover one hour of real time and the season's entire story will take place during one day, so that viewers again can follow characters as they live through a momentous day.

In season three of 24, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who was in charge of a special field operations unit of the Counter Terrorist Unit, fought to stop a viral terrorism threat before it could kill millions of people.

Season four begins 18 months later. CTU is now headed up by Erin Driscoll (Alberta Watson), a steely government agent who made firing Jack one of her first priorities upon taking over. After the explosion of a commuter train, Jack, who is now working for Secretary of Defense James Heller (William Devane) and is also romantically involved with Heller's married daughter Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), suddenly finds himself heading back to CTU for a meeting with Driscoll.

South Africa's Arnold Vosloo has a recurring role in this season of 24. He plays a terrorist leader who's planning a plot against the United States.

Also featured in season: Nestor Serrano as Middle Eastern businessman Navi Araz, Oscar-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo as his wife, Dina, and Jonathan Ahdout as their son, Behrooz.