I’m proud of the way I was able to figure out after just a few minutes the first time around that it was a flashforward without knowing any spoilers. I guess I just watch too much TV and I’m able to think like writers and directors.

Anyway, one of the best things about the episode is future junkie Jack doing an impression of Ron Burgundy from Anchorman. Jack shouting “We have to go back!!” reminds me so much of Ron Burgundy’s “It’s so damn hot! Milk was a bad choice!”. Always cracks me up!

Stephen Colbert is my idol! If I make it to New York sometime later this year I’m going to make sure I get tickets to a recording of the show. Hopefully the writers will be back soon.

On the face of it, The Wire seems like another cop show but it’s so much more than that. It’s a reflection on the modern American city, specifically Baltimore, Maryland. With each season the scope of the show expands and many new characters and organisations are brought into focus, as well as continuing the stories and themes from previous seasons.

Season 1 sees a Baltimore Police detail set up to investigate a West Baltimore drug dealing gang.

Season 2 focuses on the working class dock workers at the city port while continuing the drug related themes from the first season.

Season 3 goes back to the escalating drug and crime problems on the city’s streets while also looking at the politics of City Hall and the role it plays.

Season 4 brings the eduction system into view and examines the likely fates of the schoolkids.

Season 5 will be about the media and about how what is reported and what isn’t reported affects society.

The show has an all round authenticity rarely seen in fictional television or film. One of the two main reasons for this is that a lot of the actors are from Baltimore and some of them aren’t even professional actors but are basically playing themselves. The other reason is that the two creative forces behind The Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, have lived through a lot of the events depicted in the show. Simon was a reporter with The Baltimore Sun and Burns was a homicide detective who became a schoolteacher.

It’s gritty, it’s realistic, it’s intense and at times it’s also funny. You need to pay close attention to every scene because nothing is given to the audience easily. It’s all in the details. But if you put in the work in meeting the show halfway then you’ll be rewarded in spades. So much so in fact, that it will spoil every other programme you watch. In particular, any other cop show will look laughably amateur.

I can’t recommend this show enough. If you only ever listen to one thing I say then listen to this… watch The Wire!

The episode is very funny. Some of its best scenes are set in a Carphone Warehouse shop where the brilliant Stephen Merchant’s character has started a new job. The plethora of guest stars are happy to ham it up and have the piss taken out of them. The best scene of the series happens when Ricky Gervais’s character, Andy Millman, reaches a moment of clarity and speaks out on the folly and fickleness of fame.

In my opinion, this is a must-see. Of course if you haven’t seen the show before, watch it from the start.