Under the Boardwalk

This week for the first time:
I watched Boardwalk Empire

The best thing about January - possibly the only good thing about January - is that you can get away with staying in and hibernating every night using post-festive blues, dreary winter weather and hardship as acceptable excuses. I have been politely declining most invitations in favour of cosy nights in curled up with my better half and, at the weekend, I even treated myself to a 'Staying in on a Saturday night' outfit consisting of elastic, drawstrings and velour for optimal comfort. My cousin's in-laws refer to these rather fetching combos as 'loosies'.

The hours spent rooted to the sofa have practically doubled over the last few weeks and the desire to watch TV versus quality programmes being aired ratio is sadly not in my favour, meaning that, without illegal downloading I would potentially be staring at a blank screen or resorting to a game of dominos. A sorry existence? Quite possibly. But I think January has managed to redeem itself thanks to HBO's addictive series 'Boardwalk Empire', that I downloaded at the suggestion of my Mum and brother who are both leading authorities on everything that is good television.

Set in Atlantic City in the 1920s prohibition era, Boardwalk Empire has everything you could want from a TV series; drama, gangsters, sex, violence, a killer soundtrack and Steve Buscemi. Not many actors can make your skin crawl and be sexy and heart-warming all at the same time and this is why Buscemi is high on my list of favourite actors and why the nominations and awards have been flooding in for his potrayal of dodgy Atlantic county treasurer Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson.

The quality of the cast doesn't stop with Buscemi. A buff looking Michael Pitt (Funny Games) smoulders as Ivy League boy turned gangster and the addition of Michael Kenneth Williams was a stroke of genius after he very clearly stole the show as Omar Little in HBO's other gem The Wire. Casting doesn't get better than Kirkby up-and-coming star Stephen Graham (Combo in This is England) as Al Capone, who ditches his scouse accent for a thick Brooklyn drawl.

Stephen Graham was recently sat in front of us on a Liverpool to Brussels Easyjet flight. He was collared by cabin crew for carrying what was very clearly oversized hand luggage and made to wait and board the plane last so that they could place his luggage in the hold for an extortionate fee. Every single passenger had to walk past him and, scousers being scousers, there were constant cries of "Y'alright Stephen, lad?" and "How's it goin' Al Capone?" The last passenger to climb aboard a full plane, I'm sure he was relieved when he discovered that a stag party of about 15 semi-drunken blokes had saved him the final seat right in the middle of their group and were only too keen to quiz him about what his Mum had cooked for Johnny Depp when he was invited to dinner at the Graham family home.

A visual feast, no stone is left unturned when it comes to detail in the television masterpiece that is Boardwalk Empire. The first episode was directed by Martin Scorcese and cost $18 million, but this does not take the shine off subsequent episodes with jaw-dropping cinematography the likes of which is rarely seen on the small screen. I confess that usually, I hardly pay much attention to set or costume design but in every episode so far, I have found it difficult to hold back on verbalising my appreciation. Just take Kelly Macdonald's (Margaret Schroeder) hats - each episode is in competition with the last in terms of elegant headwear design - and I can only imagine the look of delight on Buscemi's face when he was first introduced to his wardrobe. Why don't they make suits like that anymore?

Boardwalk Empire is groundbreaking and honest in its approach to scenes of a sexual nature. Without being overly gratuitous, it makes a refreshing change to the usual fully-clothed erotic scenes from other American series (Jennifer Aniston's bra probably needs surgically removing) and pays a fitting tribute to the somewhat louche morals of the era. It doesn't hold back on the violence and at times, my squeamish nature leads me to avert my eyes from the screen. There's a certain amount of humour involved in the show and many of the belly laughs come from the clever portrayal of the social and technological differences between the 1920s and the modern day.

My next step will be to investigate the music. I am already hooked on the Donovanesque Brian Jones Town Massacre theme song 'Straight Up and Down'.

Would I try this again?: They can't make series 3 fast enough.

Fun with Steve Buscemi: Chicks with Steve Buscemeyes