
Widely considered one of the greatest television shows ever, HBO’s The Wire is currently celebrating 12 years since it was first shown with a marathon run of fully-remastered high-definition episodes.

Over five series, the show explored the wide-ranging impact of the war on drugs on the crack-infested streets of Baltimore, Maryland.

Written by David Simon, a former police reporter for The Baltimore Sun, the show was praised for its gritty realism and much of it was filmed on location around some of the roughest parts of the city.

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Widely considered one of the greatest television shows ever, HBO’s The Wire is currently celebrating 12 years since it was first shown with a marathon run of fully-remastered high-definition episodes

The train tracks was a favorite spot for Detectives Bunk & McNulty to enjoy an after hours drink and it looks today very much as it did above when actors Wendell Pierce, left, and Dominic West, right, filmed their scenes there

In the TV show 'The Pit' referred to an area where drugs were sold openly among the low-rise houses

Today: As this collection of photos recently taken by Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton shows, not much has changed - at least on the surface - since the show was filmed in the same location some 12 years ago

In this clip from The Wire notoriously bad guy Omar holds up a local convenience store

Today: The same store looks almost identical today with the cashier surrounded by a protective screen

In Season 3 of The Wire Major Howard ‘Bunny’ Colvin, above, experiments with how he polices the local drug gangs by setting up an area, known as Hamsterdam, where they are free to sell without police interference

Though it never won an Emmy, The Wire has been referred to across the critical board as the greatest television series of all time, only recently rivaled by AMC’s Breaking Bad

City mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake recently told a story of how former Republican presidential nominee John McCain grabbed the hand about a year ago and asked if things were any better in Baltimore 'since The Wire?', reports the Baltimore Business Journal.

'Anecdotally, it still resonates with people as a true and accurate and unfortunately complete picture of Baltimore,' she said last month while speaking before Johns Hopkins University students as one in a series of guest lecturers in a class called 'Baltimore and The Wire.'

'The show's popularity was based on showing all that was wrong in Baltimore.'

She maintains that much has changed over the past 12 years to improve Baltimore by reducing crime and urban blight, yet a collection of photos recently taken by Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton appears to reveal that not much has changed - at least on the surface.

He recently decided to take photos at some of the series most famous locations thus offering a then-and-now take.

'In honor of this #TheWireMarathon, tell me a filming location you'd like to see present day, I'll take a pic on my lunch break,' he tweeted on December 26.

Though it never won an Emmy, The Wire has been referred to across the critical board as the greatest television series of all time, only recently rivaled by AMC’s Breaking Bad.

Each season introduced a different facet of the city of Baltimore. In chronological order they were: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media.

It also launched the careers of actors including Idris Elba, Dominic West, Michael B. Jordan and Michael K. Williams.

The series began its marathon at midnight on December 26 on HBO Signature and will finish on New Years Eve.

A scene from The Wire: Over five series, the show explored the wide-ranging impact of the war on drugs on the crack-infested streets of Baltimore, Maryland

Now: The basketball court look the same today as it did when it was a set for the TV show. 'The show's popularity was based on showing all that was wrong in Baltimore,' says current mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

In the fifth and final season of The Wire, much of the action revolved around what was happened at the local newspaper

Today: The offices used in the show is where The Baltimore Sun continues to be published to this day

A scene from the opening credits of The Wire which over five series explored the wide-ranging impact of the war on drugs on the crack-infested streets of Baltimore, Maryland

Despite the claims of the mayor that the city is doing all it can to reduce crime and urban blight, recent photos show that it continues to have a large number of derelict houses

An opening scene from the TV show: The series began a marathon of re-runs at midnight on December 26 on HBO Signature and will finish on New Years Eve