Silk-Series 1 (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	365
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Catherine Morshead Michael Offer Peter Hoar Alice Troughton
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Dru Masters

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Not to be mistaken for the recent film of the same name, Silk is a BBC television drama series set in a barrister chambers in the English legal system. It is somewhat similar to both Rumpole of the Bailey and North Square. Probably more like the second than the first, especially considering that Rupert Penry-Jones played a leading character in both North Square and this series. This first series was made in 2010 but has only recently been shown on local television. It is now being released on local DVD with Series 2 set to follow a month later. This season includes six episodes spread over 2 discs.

     The lead character is this case is a female criminal law barrister, Martha Costello (Maxine Peake) who is one of the senior barristers in the chambers. She runs a line between acting like a barrister and caring more about her cases than her colleagues. Her colleagues include Clive Reader (Penry-Jones) and Kate Brockman (Nina Sosanya). Their chief clerk who runs the office and ensures they are kept busy with legal work is Billy Lamb (Neil Stuke) who also does a fine line in manipulation of his barristers. Both Clive and Martha are trying to become QC's or 'silks'. Each episode generally includes one free standing legal case in which one or more of them represents a client or prosecutes. There are also ongoing storylines about the relationship between the various members of the practice and their new young student barristers, who join in the first episode. They are the penniless Nick Slade (Tom Hughes) and the well-connected Niamh Cranitch (Natalie Dormer).

     This is an entertaining legal drama with some interesting character interplay and intrigues to add to the mix. It does a good job and provides solid entertainment, without being overwhelmingly compelling. The acting is generally good and the cases are interesting.

     Recommended for fans of the legal drama genre.

Video

     The video quality is good but no more.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout although was affected by some graininess which sometimes trended into mild macro-blocking. Shadow detail was quite good.

     The colour is very good with no issues to report.

     Other than those mentioned above the only artefact was some motion blur during fast motion.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which were clear and easy to read but contained some errors.

    There is no obvious layer change during the episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

     These discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The sound is obviously quite front focused.

     Dialogue was generally easy to understand throughout although the subtitles were useful.

     The music sounds good and fits the show well.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

     The menu featured music and motion.

Behind the Scenes (13:22)

     Making of featurette which covers the various roles in a barristers chambers, their characters, writing, development of the series, the stories involved, sets and various scenes from the show. Not Bad.

    This show is available in the UK in the same format.

     A good legal drama series from the BBC.

    The video quality is good.

     The audio quality is good.

     One decent extra.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall