So, it's over.

I remember Nici Gosnell leaving our school to move down to Uxbridge in 1987 or 88.

That was the last time I felt like this.

I didn't think it would ever be possible to get over the sense of loss, the sense that no one would ever make me feel like that again.

But, of course, I did.

Nici was a human being. A beautiful and funny one at that.

'The Wire' is a bloody television series.

This is almost embarrassing.

My dad had cancer last year. I've been through some proper life in the last twelve months. I should have a sense of perspective.

Why do some stories effect us so?

'The Wire' has been compared to Shakespeare or Dickens... the writers themselves trace the lineage back to Greek tragedy. It has borrowed its tricks well.

Somewhere in amongst that city of a plot is the very essence of what we are. I may not be a drug dealer, a docker, a police or a journalist, but I recognise more pieces of myself -- more pieces that I can empathise with and glean some kind of understanding from -- than I do from the real people and situations around me.

Is that in itself a definition for great drama?

Probably not -- it doesn't mention entertainment.

We never really get an insight into how we figure in the grand scheme of our own lives, an aerial picture of where we fit in with our friends, relatives and work colleagues. It's why drama is so compelling to us. We're all voyeurs. But that isn't said derisively. Great drama tells us that we aren't alone in our struggles or our triumphs.

That wouldn't even get me a C in 'A' Level philosophy, would it?

I can only reiterate what everyone else has already said: 'The Wire' is peerless. If it was two pence chew TV I wouldn't be grieving for it.

Yes, grieving is too strong a word.

Gus would soon cut that out of my copy.

I'll miss those characters like they were my real friends.

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