GROUNDBREAKING real-time drama 24 is to end after its eighth season, Fox has confirmed.

The action drama, starring Kiefer Sutherland as counter terrorism agent Jack Bauer, will air its final small screen episode in May.

But it is hoped that it won’t mark the end for the show completely, as a movie is in the works with a view to bringing Bauer’s character to the big screen.

According to reports from the US, the decision was taken because of the show’s dip in ratings, creative fatigue and its high production costs (with each episode unfolding like a mini-movie).

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, showrunner and executive producer Howard Gordon said that the writing had been on the wall for some time for the show and outlined some of the reasons behind the decision.

He said that the show’s writers felt they had exhausted the real-time possibilities for Bauer’s character and had never came up with a truly compelling idea for a Day 9.

“If one of the writers came up with a good idea, I’d happily pitch it to Kiefer and then happily pitch to a network, whether Fox or someone else,” Gordon said. “We just don’t have that idea, and that’s where everything has to start.”

He subsequently promised a strong finish for the current season, coupled with some dark and creatively risky turns for the final episodes.

And he hinted that a movie version is closer than ever before, particularly as other possibilities for Jack Bauer are also being explored.

“There are other possible iterations of Jack Bauer and his world,” he said, before alluding to the possibility of taking Bauer to Europe for the movie format – a script for which is in place.

He concluded: “I’d like it [24] to be remembered as a revolutionary concept. I hope the second thing is that we loved this show so much and never did anything less than our best and I hope we delivered to our fans like we feel we did to ourselves.”

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