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Boardwalk Empire takes a bow
by Adam SweetingWednesday, 2 February 2011

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Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson: Would you buy a crate of liquor from this man?
Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson: Would you buy a crate of liquor from this man?

It's here! HBO's Boardwalk Empire finally arrived last night, the big news on the opening day of the new Sky Atlantic channel. Already staggering under a burden of Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild awards, Boardwalk looks likely to enjoy a long and glittering career, with a second series already in production.

With a $20m budget and Martin Scorsese in the director's chair, the pilot episode has been hailed as a TV milestone. The garishness and grotesquerie of Atlantic City at the start of the Prohibition era is vividly rendered, with its chorus girls, freak shows and roaring saloons. And the show is onto a winner with the central character of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the corrupt County Treasurer making a mint from gambling, prostitution and illegal bootlegging. But it's going to take a while for the hordes of characters and multiple plotlines to bed in. Episode two follows tonight (Wednesday), and there'll be a full artsdesk review of the Boardwalk story so far tomorrow.
Watch a summary of episode one of Boardwalk Empire


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