SATURDAY night viewing is not going to be the same.

For the devotees of quality TV, the weekly walk along the seafront of Atlantic City, as captured so evocatively in Boardwalk Empire, has been an absolute treat.

The series was heralded as the star performer in the new Sky Atlantic schedule — and it lived up to all the hype.

OK so it’s not the Sopranos. To be honest, will there ever be a TV series that quite reaches those heights? But the story of ‘Nucky’ Thompson and prohibition era Atlantic City has been true quality.

It helps, of course, to have Martin Scorsese overseeing everything and the wonderful Steve Buscemi in the main role.

But there have been strong performances throughout, including Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder, who rose from naive battered wife to the realist at the heart of Thompson’s corrupt empire.

Every bit part character added something, including an obsessed prohibition agent, the cruelly wounded sniper back from the trenches and a rough and ready Al Capone. On top of the characters, what set Boardwalk Empire apart has been the way it was lovingly filmed.

A slight sepia coating recreated the 1920s and a great soundtrack added to the hedonistic, corrupt atmosphere of Atlantic City.