History Series / Silk

* BritainIsOnlyLondon: Justified as TruthInTelevision. Trial-wise, all the action's in London.

* BlueBlood: Clive went to [[OxBridge Oxford]], and Niamh, his pupil, is the daughter of a judge.

* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Billy calls Martha by her first name at the end of series 2, prompting Martha to say, "You know, that’s the first time you called me Martha in 17 years." The whole thing is heartbreaking because [[spoiler: Billy has just recently learned he has cancer. ]]

--> "You can't kill unborn puppies. I mean, this is England!"
--> "This is the ''British army'' we're talking about here."

--> "Are you trying to tell me that puppies need father figures too?"
--> "I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing, because I don't.''

--> '''Clive:''' "Don't flirt with your pupils, Martha."
--> '''Martha:''' "And don't fuck them, either."

** [[spoiler: Prior to the series, they did have sex, resulting in Martha's pregnancy]]
* ButtMonkey: Jake, the junior clerk.
** Also Nick at times, but [[TheWoobie we're supposed to like Nick.]]
** Clive has his ButtMonkey moments, too.

* BlueBlood: Clive went to [[OxBridge Oxford]], and Niamh, his pupil, is the daughter of a judge.
** Not even Clive's CharacterDevelopment in season two can quite bridge this gap. He's rather unkind to Nick in season one, and during interviews for potential pupils later on, he bristles at the thought of hiring a former cop turned law student.
---> ''to Nick'': We'll see who does better, the boy from up north or the daughter of a judge.
* [[spoiler:Cliffhanger]]: [[spoiler: The final episode of season 3 and of the season ends with Martha disappearing, Billy collapsing and a supergrass apparently about to be shot]].

!! This show provides examples of:

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Several of these. Martha, Clive, and the rest of the barristers have to take certain cases, even if they don't want to, either because the firm needs the business that the case could bring or because the barrister in particular needs to round out their resume.
** Also, a barrister ''has'' to take a brief unless they don't have the experience or don't have the time to give the brief the attention it deserves. It's called the "cab rank rule."
** For a specific example, a clerk from a rival chambers offers Clive the chance to abandon ship at his current firm to practice at an incredibly prestigious one instead. Turning it down would mean damaging his career.
*** It's a set up designed to test Clive's loyalty to the firm. [[spoiler: He fails miserably.]]
* AscendedFridgeHorror: Several times. Just because they get a "not guilty" verdict doesn't mean they're really free.
** One defendant in season two testifies against the criminal gang that forced him to commit assault, but is brutally killed for doing so.
*** Especially horrible as it is noted several times throughout the episode that the client has the mind of a child. Despite the horrible acts he committed, he is in a sense, an innocent. His inability to carry out the full '5 sense' murder and his subsequent actions, lead to him being killed in the same way. He would have known exactly what was going to happen to him, and how excruciating it would be.
** Another defendant, given a way out of his life as a male prostitute, [[StockholmSyndrome goes right back to that life when released.]]
* AmoralAttorney: Although Martha seems to genuinely care about the guilt or innocence of her clients, the truth is that even the guiltiest defendants deserve a fair trial.
* BerserkButton: Hurt Martha and you'll have half of chambers banging on your door.
** Nick's known Martha for all of a day when he pushes Clive down a flight of stairs for fighting with Martha at a company party.
*** He hadn't ''meant'' to push Clive down the stairs, though. He spends the rest of the party sitting on those same stairs feeling mortified.
*** Unfortunately, Clive doesn't really get that, or care. [[TookALevelInJerkass He's pretty much a jerk to Nick the rest of the season.]]
** Hurt any of Martha's clients and you'll have Martha banging on your door.

* OopNorth: Martha and her trainee, Nick, are both from the North of England, although it's not specified where.
* TokenMinority: Kate, and then George in season two.
** Justified as TruthInTelevision. The bar is overwhelmingly male and wealthy - Martha's being from Manchester is already a break from the norm.

* RousingSpeech: More or less every episode.

The show ran for three reasons and concluded in March 2014; while it was announced at the time this was a decision to "go out on a high" by Peter Moffatt, however subsequent Twitter comments and a strange ending imply the BBC pulled the plug themselves.

** A great example of this trope is when Martha recites nearly all of the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy from Macbeth in one sitting. Moffat wrote the Macbeth episode of Shakespeare ReTold.
* AwwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: For all their fighting and arguing, Clive and Martha rely very heavily on each other, both professionally and emotionally. The occasional reminder of just how much they do need and trust each other is enough to push it into this.

* AuthorAppeal: At times, Silk can feel like Peter Moffat has stuffed everything he's ever written into it, in some form. Seriously, Silk is basically just a much darker, more sophisticated version of his old show North Square.
** A great example of this trope is when Martha recites nearly all of the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy from Macbeth in one sitting. He sneaks a Macbeth reference into '' everything''

* AuthorAppeal: At times, Silk can feel like Peter Moffat has put everything he's ever written into Silk, in some form. Seriously, Silk is basically just a much darker, more sophisticated version of his old show North Square.

* Aww,Look!TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: For all their fighting and arguing, Clive and Martha rely very heavily on each other, both professionally and emotionally. The occasional reminder of just how much they do need and trust each other is enough to push it into this.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Martha and Clive flip between this and * VitriolicBestBuds for pretty much the whole show. It's usually done in a slightly more light-hearted way than in most shows and movies though.

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* GeniusBonus: In the third episode of the third season, Martha throws in a cute in-joke to her reader in an insanely high stakes murder trial to "don't *ever* do what I'm about to do." Barristers know what that "thing" is... ''re-examine when you don't know what the answer is.'' Not a technique for the newbies.

* GeniusBonus: In the third episode of the third season, Martha throws in a cute in-joke to her reader in an insanely high stakes murder trial to "don't even do what I'm about to do." Barristers know what that "thing" is... ''re-examine when you don't know what the answer is.'' Not a technique for the newbies.

''Silk'' is a LawProcedural produced by Creator/TheBBC, starring Maxine Peake and Rupert Penry-Jones. First aired in 2011, the show focuses on a group of London barristers, notably Martha Costello, who has had to fight her way up the ranks, and Clive Reader, who's got plenty of charm and cash. Both Martha and Clive want to become part of Queen's Counsel (called "taking silk"), but only one of them can get there. Add to this the scheming of senior clerk Billy, who sees everything that goes through chambers, and you've got yourself a recipe for disaster. Or, as it may happen, good television.

* HelloAttorney: Downplayed. There are ''attractive'' attorneys (''NatalieDormer!''), but none of them exist solely to be hot.

* HelloAttorney: Downplayed. There are ''attractive'' attorneys (''Natalie Dormer!''), but none of them exist solely to be hot.

* HelloAttorney: Downplayed. There are ''attractive'' attorneys, but none of them exist solely to be hot.