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BBC1’s latest legal drama, Silk, reached its thrilling conclusion this week and it was busier than Spaghetti Junction, with each and every one of the subplots coming together: Would Martha (Maxine Peake) or Clive (Rupert Penry-Jones) become QCs? Would scheming Kate (Nina Sosanya) encourage the other lawyers to break away from corrupt clerk Billy (Neil Stuke)? Would Niamh (Natalie Dormer) or Nick (Tom Hughes) get the coveted place at Chambers?
So many things colliding together could have been very messy in lesser hands, but, on the whole, writer Peter Moffat skillfully constructed the episode so that each plot flowed into the next, and it never felt forced as it so easily could have done. That said, the execution wasn’t quite perfect, with some of the flaws of the series as a whole still present in the concluding episode. While having so much going on ensured that boredom never made it into the courtroom, it did result in some of the plots being handled better than others. Having 2 clients running throughout the series (Gary Rush and Mark Draper), seemed particularly difficult to manage, with the Rush plot having been largely sidelined since the first episode, therefore the eventual ‘showdown’ with Martha was rather anti-climatic.
Moreover, many of the supporting characters were a little weakly drawn, especially Kate. Her quest to bring down Billy was understandable, but we rarely saw her character doing anything else but moaning, which made her difficult to sympathise with. So Silk isn’t perfect but, really, these are only minor flaws in what has been a fantastically enjoyable series, providing a realistic view of the legal world, with the idyllic setting giving proceedings a very classy edge.
Furthermore, the pacing rarely faulted, with each episode zipping along faster than Penry-Jones could pout, and it’s a rare thing for me to say, but it would have been nice if the series had run for a few more episodes to allow things to fester even more. The cases themselves were fascinating to watch, with the final episode’s twists and turns being particularly memorable, and the courtroom scenes were just electric; it was often difficult not to applaud as Martha crushed another opponent.
Which brings me to the main reason that Silk has been of such a high standard: Maxine Peake. She has been quite simply brilliant throughout, being perfectly cast in a role so believably written that it’s easy to overlook the minor flaws mentioned earlier. Her range of emotions was also startling, although this range may have been emphasised due to Penry-Jones’ lack of them.
Over its six week run, Silk has been a compulsive addition to the Tuesday night schedule. While it may not win prizes for originality or creating new rules for this genre of television drama, it has never been less than supremely entertaining, with a central performance so strong, that if it was converted into evidence for the prosecution, it would be water-tight.
A second series of Silk has been commissioned to be aired on BBC1 next year.
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