After a year off because of the writers’ strike and a need for the series’ producers to recharge their batteries, the Fox espionage-adventure-political-thriller series 24 will return with a four-hour, two-night premiere block on Sunday, January 11, and Monday, January 12.

The four-hour opening block has become a hallmark of 24 in recent years, and the show will run on consecutive Mondays thereafter until concluding in May, as has also been the case in recent years.

The location of the series’ central story line and Bauer’s activities will be moved away from its usual Los Angeles sites to South Africa. In another welcome change, Jack Bauer’s former colleague and enabler at the CTU unit, Tony Almeida, returns, after having been presumed dead for a couple of years.

In addition, theatrical film star Jon Voight will reportedly appear on the program as a villain.