The Wire

I know that it is often bleak, hard-breaking stuff, but honestly, is there any better a programme on television? It is chilling how casually lives are snuffed out, how savagely people are beaten, how cheap life is considered to be. Yet for so many characters, their lives have been so vividly portrayed, so well written and acted that it brings a tear to the eye when they finally reach their end. It has been described as a grand epic, a film told across five seasons and that must be right. A programme like 24 has, obviously, plenty of through storyline and momentum, even from one season to the next, but it never engages you like the Wire does. 24 adrenalises and thrills like no other show, but you do not care about as many of the characters as you do with The Wire. The West Wing is as well written as any show you could name, but sometimes it revels in how clever it is. The Wire just feels like a window on a world you would not wish on your worst enemy and yet you cannot take your eyes off it. We are coming to the end of season 4 on BBC2 and season 5 kicks off on Thursday. When that has run its course I will grieve.