Phobia Corner: CTU Ringtone ('24')

The Phobia: CTU Ringtone

The Cause: 24

The simple sound of a telephone ringing can send shivers up the sturdiest of spines. Just remember the pure terror invoked by the calls of the crazed killer in the movie Scream, or the eerie phone tendencies of ‘The Empty Child’ in the 2005 Doctor Who story of the same name. However, the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) ringtone from 24 strikes fear in a different way.

That distinctive sound - once so cool and contemporary - is now a nightmare for those within earshot. Downloaded onto mobiles across the globe, no public place is safe from the aural atrocity. Why the hostility, you may ask? The reason lies in the deterioration of the show it belongs to. Just like the fall of the Berlin Wall brought down Eastern Bloc communism, the dismal sixth season of 24 dragged down any cultural properties associated with it.

There was a time when the phone would ring within the claustrophobic confines of CTU and the esteemed likes of Tony Almeida or George Mason would pick up the receiver. Both of them deities, who wouldn’t want to assimilate the sound heard in their ears at crucial junctures of the story. On the other end of the line, President Palmer (the plausible one) might be calling to give Jack Bauer licence to defy protocol and pursue his own tactics. Or maybe some bureaucratic bozo from ‘Division’ like Ryan Chappelle may be informing the head of CTU that Bauer is now to be treated as a hostile after going dark. Those were the cool days - and sounds.

Manning the phones in the latest adventure were blandness-personified boss Bill Buchanan or the annoying Chloe O’Brien. They’re left hanging on the telephone by the increasingly nauseous figure of Bauer. Like your average hairdryer, he functions on two settings - hushed sincere whisper or manic shouting. “WHERE’STHEBOMBGODDAMNITCHLOE!” seems to be a regular catchphrase these days.

Interacting with a television show can be a very unique experience these days, but the timing is crucial. Hence the sadness invoked by the 24 ringtone in recent times - a sad reminder of a bygone era.