Silk

I Loved This. But you need to know some stuff about U.K. Law.

1. In the U.K. there are barristers and solicitors; each practicing law. However only the barristers plead their cases in court. 2. So it is up to the solicitors to do the legal ground-work and then 'hire' a barrister to represent their client in court. And so, 3. Barristers market themselves to solicitors, hoping to get their 'business', and, 4. Barrister Law firms have 'Clerks' whose responsibilities include this marketing function. And finally, 5. Barrister Law firms can represent the 'government' much like District Attorneys do in the U.S.. So it is possible for a Barrister firm to represent both the defendant and plaintiff in the same case.

Maxine Peak and Rupert Penry Jones play Senior Barristers in the same firm, both vying for the position of 'Silk' which entitles them to appear in a higher level capacity. Both attorneys are more than capable, both have lives outside their professions, but the law is always at their centers. Neil Stuke plays the firm's Senior Clerk whose marketing schemes often are the cause of upset within the firm.

The Series ran for three years; six episodes per year, for a total of eighteen. There is an over-arching story to the eighteen episodes; how will the attorneys adjust their moral compasses as required by the demands of their work. That said, each episode does have its own conclusion; each 'closed case' adding to the cumulative effect on the attorneys.

If the series has a weakness it's the character played by Rupert Penry Jones. He is portrayed as the most handsome man in the history of time; every woman he meets hopes to bed him, and most do. It is a tiresome plot device and should have been discarded early on. That said, the series' 'heroine' played by Maxine Peak is one of those women. And we like and respect her so very much that her pursuit of Jones is somehow ...... disquieting. Unnerving. She deserves better.

One final point. Some reviewers have found fault with the series' closing episode. Final seconds, in fact.

Not I.

It truly was a pretty muddled, empty ending, to what for most every episode was a highly entertaining series. And it could have easily gone on for at minimum another couple seasons had they just maintained average storyline quality. But to end it the way they did really doesn't do justice to the exceptional character portrayal by one of the UK's top-notch actors. One with the greatest dialogue and integrity of the entire lot just disappearing into the night without comment... really??!! That's what they dreamed up this wonderful series coming to.. leaving all to the sleazy, office-manager screwing egocentric!! As it was nearing the end, a first thought was that would definitely like to see them keep the story going, but now they've pretty much ruined all future expectation and excitement for that ever happening. They've blown up that hope in such a way it could never be meaningful again... what an absolute, bs waste.

This show does not disappoint. It is so well done that you might forget you're watching a TV drama not real life events. The characters are believable, powerfully drawn, but the undeniable star of the show is Maxine Peake - her performance just superb! As Martha Costello she is everything that you'd imagine a superior barrister to be. Can't get enough of her credible acting to be honest. The rest of the cast deserves a praise too because it is thanks to them that this BBC drama is so uniquely authentic. Filmed in London (I think), it depicts daily life at Shoe Lane chambers and the work of British barristers, clerks and solicitors. I am professionally interested in law and find it hard to point out any flaws in how "Silk" presents the legal crowd in London. I do see a difference between an American show of this kind and a British one. The former tends to be focused on achievements, career and quirks of personality and the latter...hmmm...basically on the job, meaning you get a believable picture of the life at the chambers. If you're into this sort of thing just see for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

This is an absolutely spectacular series, please make more episodes, I feel abandoned.

Rumpole fans already know the drill—solicitors (though we don't see much of them) deal with the clients and prepare a brief, barristers plead the case in court, either for the defense or the prosecution, and a small platoon of clerks take care of the business side. Experienced barristers who make the right moves can hope to "take silk," or be appointed to the privileged caste of Queen's Counsel (more prestigious cases, better money, even a bigger wig).

Maxine Peake is refreshingly unglamorous, with her crunchy Northern accent, and projects a wonderful intensity as one such barrister; Rupert Penry-Jones is well matched as a cynical, corner-cutting rival. This series does office politics extremely well; the first time we watched, I was blown away by a couple of brilliant scenes in which Neil Stuke, as Billy, the hard-nosed senior clerk, fights off a coup attempt and turns one of his big earners who's trying to defect. Apart from the climactic murder trial, court cases are a lot less flashy than you'd find in a show like "The Good Wife," but story lines are brisk, engaging, sometime surprising (Colombian drug mule explains why she's better off in prison); interesting that in the UK it's a criminal offense to own (or be) a pitbull. Supporting honors go to GoT's Natalie Dormer as a "spoony" (born with a silver one in her mouth, i.e.) pupil, Tom Hughes as a not-so-spoony pupil and Nina Sosanya as a mutinous junior barrister.

Here's hoping that the next few seasons will turn up before long on PBS and eventually on Netflix.