Rajskub said the return of the show was a surprise

Jack Bauer is returning to our screens - and the long-awaited new series will see the counter-terrorist expert on the run in London.

Plans for the new 12-episode show were announced last year, but more details have been released, including the date of its first screening and names of the other stars joining Kiefer Sutherland.

Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kim Raver and William Devane are back after appearing in the original series.

And there will be some new faces, including Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Giles Matthey (True Blood), Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire), Michael Wincott (Hitchcock) and Judy Davis (Who Dares Wins).

"I'm about as anxious and wound up as I've been in a long time," Sutherland said at the Television Critics Association winter meeting.

"There's a great impetus for all of us to create something new with the show."

It will start in the US on Fox on May 5 with a two-hour special. It will then take up its regular one-hour slot a week later.

It is due to air shortly after on Sky 1 HD for UK 24 fans.

Rajskub, who plays Chloe, said she closely followed internet speculation about the return of the series and waited eagerly to find out whether she had been included.

"I have a lot of people who refuse to call me anyone but Chloe," she said.

"I never thought 24 would come back and in this format."

The show will retain the real-time format with split screens and interwoven storylines. It picks up four years after the events of the last series with Bauer now a fugitive being hunted by the CIA.

A potential 24 movie has also been hinted at.

"If this ends up rebooting the show or causing a film to be made, so be it," said Sutherland.

"The film is sort of an ongoing situation."