Silks

I have watched every series - and I know it is difficult to create a realistic drama as frankly in any field whether it be Police, Law or Medicine the daily grind is just that - a grind! Not much entertainment, so the script writers do need a bit of license to engage the viewing public. However I think Silks really got that wrong by trying to compress to many cases into not only the complete series but also each programme. I think the model used by for example “Line of Duty” is better where the case which is the story line, develops with each successive programme. It leave room for more twists and turns and in my view keeps the audience hooked. I well remember a ground-breaking series from the USA some years ago called “Murder One”. It was a story first and foremost about a firm of lawyers and about this one case - a murder. The case developed - and I’m not just talking about Court room scenes but the actual development of the case as witnesses were interviewed, documents discovered and all the detailed analysis that goes on in any case murder or not. I thought that was a really interesting genre and I think the acclaimed success of the recent UK production “Line of Duty” to which I referred earlier is testament to that.

I won’t comment on the realism or otherwise of Silks and indeed its portrayal of the clerks room - its all done for dramatic effect - suffice to say the reality is bit more boring than the script writers would have you believe!