SILK-LINED BBC.

I have loved the BBC drama series 'Silk' which has, in my view, been the best BBC drama for a while.

It does seem that my appreciation of this series is not shared by some reviewers and, in particular, a chappie by the name of Toby Dantzic wrote a rather sneering review in the 'Review' section of last Saturday's Daily Telegraph. He actually said that the series 'lacked real dramatic spark'; he referred disparagingly to the performances of both Maxine Peake and Rupert Penry-Jones, the two main characters, as well as that of Neil Stuke who provided solid support. He complaineds that none of the court cases 'have translated into ethical dilemmas worth chewing over'. He referred to Maxine Peake's 'sniffling' over a closing speech, which is simply not true; yes, she was emotional, but there were no sniffles and it was a good speech, to boot. The ending of the final episode was a little rushed and there was too much dramatic 'music' throughout, but that seems standard for today.

I actually wonder how much of the series he's watched; I also wonder how old this reviewer is. In my humble, and entirely inexpert opinion, this has been an extremely good series. It has built from the first episode to be a series of true drama and worth. The performances have been excellent and any deviation from real life has been for the same dramatic effect as occurs in any drama series of note, and has been far less than the ludicrous hyperbole of the soaps. The various cases have covered several thought-provoking issues that could well have been 'chewed over'.

I suspect Mr Dantzic's views are reflective of his age, though he's welcome to prove otherwise. To me, this was a series for more intelligent and selective viewers; it won't have appealed to the younger generation as it was simply too difficult for them to understand. I just hope that the views of people like Dantzic will not prevent there being a further series.