For the uninitiated, Oz was amazing. Another top notch show from HBO, it focused on hardcore criminals in an experimental high tech prison – Oswald State Correctional Facility. It aired on Channel 4 from 1998 and finished its sixth and final season fairly recently. ‘Oz’ was not for the faint-hearted, taking serial killers, cop murderers and racists as some of its main characters, it was never going to be tea-time viewing, but it was absolutely compulsive stuff. It took on controversial and provocative issues such as Islamic fundamentalism, Neo-Nazism and the death penalty and (pardon the pun), took no prisoners.

It never compromised itself, watered things down to make them more palatable or cared about scoring a hit with conservative Middle America. It was the very definition of HBO programming and seemed to roll on from season to season with no fear of being axed. It seemed almost not to care about how it stood in the ratings, after all, if it’s going to be screened late at night you’re only broadcasting to a small audience share anyway.

The format of ‘Oz’ was unusual. Almost shambolic. We would follow the story arc of one character, just to shift to another. However the plots were all meticulously thought out and neatly constructed so you never feared that anything had been over-looked or forgotten. If they didn’t cover it this week, they’d nail it the next. No Lost type paranoia that things wouldn’t add up. Things did add up, with the sum of the parts nowhere near as impressive or significant as the whole it produced.

Yes, the actors were good, with many going on to star in much more prominent shows since. The writing was spot-on, from authentic street dialogue to the creation of flawed but sympathetic characters. The production values were strong, and though there wasn’t much call for location work (they were incarcerated after all), when we did catch a glimpse of the outside world it positively dazzled and shone, as though we the viewers were also condemned to life behind bars. The prison set was quite epic in size and due to the prison’s experimental status; we got to enjoy levels of inmate interaction and relative freedom not common to such high security institutions. But still, this was magic television. Lightning in a bottle, that I am sure all involved with will struggle to recreate later in their respective careers.

‘Oz’ nursed many actors on their roads to stardom. ‘Lost’ benefited from the talents of Harold Perrineau and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, The Sopranos stole Edie Falco, Law and Order: SVU cast B. D. Wong and Christopher Meloni and Rescue Me gained Dean Winters. But it was not just a TV education, with existing stars such as the Academy Award winning Rita Moreno, Wayne’s World’s Lee Tergesen and Ghostbusters’ Ernie Hudson turning up to do their bit.

And why not when the characters they got to act were so well drawn? Often Hollywood writers have one voice and every character in their work talks in that way. Not ‘Oz’. Here we had the young and the old, the educated and the dim-witted, the rich and the disadvantaged all infused with a unique style and personality. The Latinos didn’t speak like the Muslims and the guards didn’t speak like the inmates.

There were characters of every colour and creed and each were portrayed as real people. No symbolism, no talking heads. There could be a message, but their credibility was never sacrificed for preaching or some convenient denouement. Each of the prisoners had committed heinous crimes (and if they hadn’t on the outside, they sure as Hell would inside), and yet they could be witty, intelligent, respectful and likeable. Morality was thrown aside, somehow shown the door as you found yourself relating to drunk-drivers, killers and militant terrorists.

Yes, some were truly awful. Irredeemably bad with nothing in their favour. But that was another of the huge achievements of ‘Oz’ – taking this neglected underbelly of our society and not only making us notice it, but asking us to understand it. Could that be us? What we would do in that situation – remind me again, why were we so much better? I personally absolutely loved Beecher and Ryan O’Reilly, but I struggle to think of a crime they didn’t commit between them.

This absence of black and white – this murky world of greys was, and remains quite a novelty on TV. As was the way ‘Oz’ pushed itself to the limits. No show since has embraced its aggressive climate of violence to such an extent, nor have any appraised the contentious issues that it examined. Yes, shows like The Shield, Deadwood, Big Love and 24 owe ‘Oz’ a debt, but I still wait for a serious contender to step up and pick up where ‘Oz’ left off. Maybe one day, but until then I have the DVD box-sets.