He's the bright shirted, metaphor-filled, smarmy lawyer who has won an army of fans through his shady dealings with Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and other notorious heads of the Albuquerque criminal underworld, but now, Saul Goodman is about to embark on his biggest challenge to date: providing the basis for a decent spin-off series.

Bob Odenkirk
Odenkirk's character is a fan favourite

It's been a long time coming, with various rumours emerging from numerous sources, but Bob Odenkirk's character is definitely being given his own show. AMC and Sony Pictures TV bosses confirmed the news through a joint statement on Wednesday (11 Sept.) following various suggestions from the web and elsewhere to keep the spirit of Breaking Bad running.

"As conceived, the new series is based on the show's popular Saul Goodman character with the working title Better Call Saul," the studio and network confirmed in their joint statement, adding, "plans call for Saul to be a one-hour prequel that will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White's lawyer."

Breaking Bad cast
Vince Gillian (L) with some of his Breaking Bad cast

Breaking Bad writer and producer Peter Gould is believed to be in charge of the project (Gould was the man who created Saul's character for the second season) and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is expected to stick around and have some influence in the show. Full details on when the show is set to begin filming and can be expected to air won't emerge until Gould, Gilligan and Odenkirk have all finalised their contracts with AMC and Sony for the series.

Since his introduction to the series in the season 2 episode 'Better Call Saul,' Odenkirk's character has become a fan favourite thanks to his humorous website and online presence and for his shady dealings within the show. His life away from his deals with Walt and Jesse are never explained in the series and he is the character with one of the richest possible backgrounds for writers to play with. He also leaves the door open for appearances from other Breaking Bad favourites like Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). More word on this story as it develops.

Better Call Saul
Hopefully, Better Call Saul will be more Frasier than Joey