A special two-hour 24 garnered huge ratings in the US on Monday.

According to early figures, the drama began strongly with 11.9 million in the 8pm hour before rising to 14 million an hour later. The ratings represent the show's best scores since the season premiere in January and a second place finish in the 18-49 demo.

As usual, CSI: Miami won the night - albeit with a marginal win in 18-49 - averaging 18.2 million for CBS at 10pm.

NBC improved slightly from last week - led by Deal Or No Deal, which rose more than a million to 14.7 million. The Apprentice was also up, averaging 9.8 million, while at 10, Medium kept a steady 10.5 million.