IT'S been the moment Breaking Bad fans have been waiting for.

Vince Gilligan's crime drama about Walter White, a terminally ill high school chemistry teacher turned New Mexico drug lord, only finished its run less than a year and a half ago.

But over the course of its five series it went from a cult show to critical and popular acclaim as well as making stars of its leads Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

Despite almost constant rumours and speculation to the contrary, Walter White's story is over but fans can revisit the setting and some of the characters of Breaking Bad in spin-off and prequel of sorts, Better Call Saul.

The Netflix show focuses on corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman six years before he meets Walter White and helps launder his money.

Brilliantly played by comedian-turned-actor Bob Odenkirk, Saul provided much of the humour of Breaking Bad's gritty and tragic tale.

So that suggests Better Call Saul might have a lighter tone than its sister show.

The series will follow Saul before he becomes the sleazy, law-breaking lawyer relied on by almost all of Albuquerque's fictionalised criminal underworld.

When the show starts he is known as Jimmy McGill and is trying to scratch a living as an honest attorney so viewers will get to see how and why his professional standards get warped over the first series' 10 episodes.

Also returning from Breaking Bad is Jonathan Banks as cantankerous hit man Mike Ehrmantraut.

The programme will show how Saul and Mike meet and how he ends up becoming Saul's private investigator.

Better Call Saul is also set to pay plenty of fan service to Breaking Bad. There are said to be lots of nods to the drama and some scenes will flash forward to what happens beyond the original show's closing scenes

So we will get to see what became of Saul after he left Walter White and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) for the final time and the sequel element gives Better Call Saul a wider scope to introduce more characters from Breaking Bad in cameo roles too.

Breaking Bad's story arc, tone, setting, humour, acting, direction and the journey its characters went on made it one of the finest TV shows.

Bob Odenkirk was a big part of its success story as Saul and really made the role his own. You may have also recently seen the actor in the TV adaptation of Fargo and Alexander Payne's acclaimed film Nebraska.

So we can only hope Better Call Saul lives up to a lot of hype and expectations. But given the show has already been recommissioned for a second series we can have high hopes.

- Better Call Saul starts on Netflix on Monday, February 9.