The Wire

Season 5

In the projects. On the docks. In City Hall. In the schools. And now, in the media. The places and faces have changed, but the game remains the same. Times are tough for the detail. Mayor Carcetti has slashed the department's budget to the bone. Police are operating without overtime, some without cars and radios.

As Season 5 begins we are introduced to The Baltimore Sun (recreated in painstaking detail), chronicling the efforts of the harried city editor to squeeze out stories in the face of downsizing by the paper's profit-motivated parent company. As we'll see, the Sun's cuts echo those facing Carcetti and the police department, which must make hard choices involving overtime, equipment and personnel - including members of the detail assigned to monitor Marlo and his ruthless crew.

HBO shows on UK TV this week