Silk (TV series)
| Silk | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Drama, crime, legal |
| Created by | Peter Moffat |
| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Hilary Salmon Peter Moffat |
| Producer(s) | Cameron Roach (Series 1) Richard Stokes (Series 2) Matt Strevens (Series 3) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | BBC Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC One BBC One HD ABC1 (Syndication) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 22 February 2011 – 31 March 2014 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
North Square Criminal Justice |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC which was broadcast over three series on BBC One between 22 February 2011 and 31 March 2014. Created by Peter Moffat, the series follows the daily goings on of Shoe Lane Chambers and its members in their personal and professional lives.
The series' writer, Peter Moffat, also wrote the series Criminal Justice and North Square, as well as an episode of Kavanagh QC. Before the series started, Moffat said in an interview, "I wanted Silk to be full of politics and intrigue. From my experience at the Bar, I felt life in chambers had all of those components, with big stories and lots of courtroom drama—but I wanted to make it as much about barristers and their life in chambers as about the trials".
Silk was commissioned by Jay Hunt, then-Controller of BBC One and Ben Stephenson, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, and started filming in July 2010. It is based on Moffat's experiences at the Bar. In an interview with The Guardian, he said "I want to tell it as it really is. The extreme pressure, the hard choices, the ethical dilemmas, the overlap between the personal and the professional, principles fought for and principles sacrificed, the Machiavellian politics, the sex, the drinking, the whole story—life at the bar is the richest possible drama territory."
The series' title is a colloquial reference to someone who has attained the status of Queen's Counsel, which entitles the person to wear a certain design of gown in court, which is usually made of silk.
Silk follows barristers from a set of chambers in London. The series' main focus is on Martha Costello (Maxine Peake) and her ambition to become Queen's Counsel as well as on her rival, Clive Reader (Rupert Penry-Jones). Martha achieves her ambition at the end of Series One, leaving Clive disappointed. He however becomes a QC in the opening episode of Series 3. The chambers' senior clerk, Billy Lamb (Neil Stuke), also features heavily in the series.
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