What with all the fuss about The Sopranos and later The Wire, this programme has fallen by the wayside a bit.

Let's not forget that this was the original, the first HBO masterpiece that shook itself loose from the lame conventions, self-imitation and cowardice of American television and rampaged to perfection with a dark heart and a foul mouth.

The scene that always comes back to me is Hank telling the Wu-Tang Clan that his favourite song is Shame On A Nigga ("....no?") but the quality rarely dipped below "majestic".