FOR anyone who loves quality viewing, last night saw a moment to treasure - and a time to start mourning.

For out on E4, the first episode of the second half of the final series of The Sopranos was screened.

It sounds like an outlandish claim to make but I'm going to make it anyway - it's debatable whether there has ever been a series that has so consistently hit the heights as this story of middle aged mobsters undergoing a series of personal crises.

Last night poor old Bobby managed to do the one thing which experience has shown you just don't do - namely he fell out with Tony Soprano.

As the head of 'the family' James Gandolfino has created one of THE great TV characters in Tony - a huge bear of a man plagued by insecurities.

At time he's more Homer Simpson than a mobster and it's this vulnerability which makes the series so special.

Sadly there are only eight more episodes left - the denoument is a closely guarded secret but I suspect it will be a shocker.

My guess is that Tony will finally bite the dust, possibly shot accidentally by his own son - somehow that would be a fitting end.

But whatever happens I just know that for the next few weeks at least I have something to look forward to on a Sunday night - then once it's all over I've got six series to watch again on DVD!