The Wire

Does anyone watch free-to-air television anymore?

Back in the day, growing up in New Zealand, I was a complete addict, and I'd watch anything and everything. Ten years living in France cured me of that. Here in Australia, with free-to-air effectively controlled by commercial multi-nationals, television is an extremely unpleasant experience, and these days I watch my motorsport and little else. Well, until recently that is.

Earlier this year while spending a weekend with ex-2000AD editor and DC Comics up-and-comer Andy Diggle, we got to talking about some of our favorite movies, and inevitably the topic of television came up. I think I'd just searched out a boxed set of The Sweeney (don't worry about it, ask your grandfather...) only to blanch a little at the 120 quid asking price. Maybe I was lamenting the state of current TV cop shows - OK, we've got The Sopranos, but even here I struggle to maintain an interest) but Andy suggested I check out the HBO series The Wire.

And its terrific. A month or so I picked up a cheap copy of season 2 and enjoyed it immensely. Now its season 1, and a recently bit-torrented season 3 awaits. OK, the workflow is slowing somewhat, but there should be more stuff like this around. Maybe there is.....