“I think it has just stayed with people because it’s still relevant now, because of the climate of what’s going on in the United States. I think it’s actually a little sad that it’s still so relevant in 2018,” he says.

What gives The Wire longevity, he adds, is that the show’s writers, David Simon and Ed Burns, had worked in Baltimore’s police department, and in the case of Burns, as a school teacher too – so the writing was grounded in reality.

“It was the first show I saw that was created as what I call ‘edutainment’,” says Williams.

“It dived so honestly into what was wrong in our society, from the police department to our lawmakers to our school system, and the media. It represented what was happening in our community.

“David took an honest look at that, and then he did something else. He didn’t make it about good guys and bad guys, they were just people doing the best they could. It was all about grey lines and I know viewers respected that honesty. I have met people in law enforcement, drug dealers and gangsters and they all agree it was so brutally honest and right on point because David and Ed wrote it from experience, not from fiction. I think that’s why people love it so much.”

Birth of the binge

The Wire broke the mould in another respect too: unlike other mainstream TV hits of the era – The Sopranos, Sex and the City, ER – The Wire’s cast featured a number of black actors in its ensemble cast, and gave career breaks to Williams, along with co-stars Michael B Jordan and Idris Elba.