[BACK] [MENU]

At this year's Emmy awards in Los Angeles, there was definitely something missing. Something that's become a bit of a regular phenomenon, namely the bit where HBO's The Sopranos carries off more silverware than any of its network competitors. But while this meant more to go round for everyone else it did not mean that the cable drama-series about a good old fashioned New York Mafia family had lost its touch, merely that no new eipsodes had been screened in the selection period.

In a nifty bit of scheduling, though, HBO decided to launch the fourth season of their ratings-busting show on the same night as The Emmys. Even with that kind of competition, The Sopranos pulled in a very credible 14 million viewers that night, a record for the ever-improving HBO, and the first time in history that a cable show has trounced the networks' offerings. Over here, that fourth season starts on E4 on October 24th, and word from across the pond confidently suggests that it's the best yet.

Our meeting with the Sopranos family kicks off with a half-hour taxi drive to the less glamorous backstreets of Manhattan, where we're dropped outside a looming dark warehouse, the entrance guarded by a security man almost as wide as he's tall. Inside the warehouse, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and two children Anthony Junior (Robert Iler) and Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) are relaxing onset with the show's creator David Chase.

The show's slogan is "Family. Redefined." And talking to the onscreen Soprano family, it's abundantly clear that that's what it's all about. Yes, it's about the Mafia, but the lure of guns and car-chases isn't enough to keep a show going for this long unless you bring a little more to the table. As Iler explains, "You see the everyday life of the mobster - this brings you home with the mobster, gets you to meet his family." His onscreen sister is the first to agree. "It's real," explains Sigler. "Not necessarily the Mafia situations, but a lot of the things our characters go through are like real teenage stuff. I think everyone has a character on the show they can relate to. Even with Meadow, you know, throwing a party, getting caught and getting into trouble. It's normal teen stuff."

That said, you can't go all apple-pie on a family which kills for a living, and The Sopranos has attracted more than its fair share of criticism, be it from Italian-American organisations who object to the stereotyping of their community as gangsters, to your dependable concerned parents who're less than thrilled by some of the language used. "I don't understand the objections to the Mafia stereotypes," shrugs Sigler. "It's not just another Mafia show, and that much is obvious from the very first episode. And yes, the language is pretty raw, but it also reflects the way teenagers really speak."

"I don't think it reflects on Italians at all," adds Iler. "It's like, if you see a lawyer do something bad on TV, you don't automatically assume all lawyers are bad… [he laughs at what he's just said] OK, so lawyers are possibly not the best example there… But you know what I mean. This show is about a really small sector of a community. 95% of the people just come up and tell me that they love it. Maybe one person said he didn't like it, and you know what? That's ok. There's plenty of shows on TV that I don't like."

The show's creator, David Chase nods in agreement. A quiet, serious man, he's very clear about what he wants to do with The Sopranos, and even clearer about what he doesn't want to do. "I've done enough network shows in my past to know how they work," he explains, " and they work like this: Tell the viewers what they're going to see, show it to them, then tell them what they've just seen all over again. And that's not really what we're doing here." Certainly, HBO's no-holds-barred style is a world apart from the sanitised world of nice appartments and GAP wardrobes depicted by the networks. "Sure, it's good to work without boundaries," admits Chase, "but I'm not actually driven by all that - I'm not that interested in swearing and sex. If you understand what I mean. But yes, sometimes I think we've gone a little over the top with the violence, sure."

Multiple-award winner Gandolfini suddenly speaks up for the first time. A giant of a man, but infinitely quieter and more humble than his onscreen persona, he's as proud as the other cast-members of his work here. "It's funny," he smiles, "When we started doing the show, I really thought we'd be on at 1 O Clock at night and get a handful of viewers somewhere out there. I really thought that'd be it. I mean, I could see it was an incredible show, but I just wasn't sure how America would take to it."

It's commonly known that Chase plans to finish his stint on the show after the fifth series, and that Gandolfini has said he'll follow Chase. They're not overly keen to discuss the future, although as Gandolfini points out "They could kill me off. I've got a big trailer out there," he laughs, "and you just know the other actors have got their eyes on it…" His screen-wife, Falco, pips in with "Keep an open mind on that… I could just get him with an Uzi," she smiles. "It's about time…"

Pressed for teasers about the forthcoming show, the cast remain totally tight-lipped, although in fairness - and as Sigler explains - they're not a whole lot wiser than us in these matters. "It's like being on a rollercoaster where you don't know what's coming next," she explains. "You get about two weeks' warning of what's coming up, but it's so well written that you totally trust it - even if we rarely have any idea what's about to happen to our characters. I'll tell you something, though - getting the new scripts and seeing the story unfold is a real blast."

Falco is the first to agree. "The more I do this, the more I love it," she beams. "You don't get this kind of luxury every day. Knowing a character inside out. This is a safe, comfortable place, and it's a place to play in. That's really what we're doing - just playing."

• HBO
• Daily Star - http://www.dailystar.co.uk/