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Black Silk remains the only British television series to focus on the
experiences of black lawyers. It was based partly on the cases of black
barrister Rudy Narayan, who in 1977 had published Black Community on Trial. He
acted as technical consultant on the series, which he co-created with the
celebrated Trinidadian playwright Mustapha Matura. Half of the episodes are by
black or Asian writers, including Feroza Syal's 'Undesirable Activities' (tx.
28/11/1985) in which Syal also co-stars as a Pakistani who falls foul of the
British Immigration Act.
Rudolph Walker stars as the charismatic, ambitious and sometimes arrogant
barrister who divides his time between his otherwise all-white chambers and a
Community Law Centre. The focus is on the human dimension of the stories, and
many episodes feature only token sequences in court. The series avoids
simplistic representations of race in favour of a more complex and multicultural
depiction of life in London, with the Afro-Caribbean, Irish and Asian
communities all given prominence. Larry himself is separated from his Jamaican
wife and now has a relationship with a white barrister.
The opening episode, 'A Long Way Away' (tx. 7/11/1985), reworks the premise
of the first 'Rumpole of the Bailey' story (Play For Today, BBC1, tx.
16/12/1975): an illiterate black youth, arrested for knifing a white man after a
sporting event, protests his innocence but won't give the names of his gang. As
scripted by Tunde Ikoli, this is given a new dimension here as the boy is of
mixed parentage. After years in foster homes and fending for himself he has been
left with a confused sense of his own racial identity, his only definite
affiliation being to Chelsea football team. In 'The Cause of Liberty' (tx.
14/11/1985), that boy's father, Pedro, tries to help his Irish neighbours,
arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Earlier we have seen Pedro and
Paddy mingle in each other's pubs, with Pedro singing 'Oh Danny Boy' on the
stage. Paddy (who is married to an English woman) is eventually destroyed by his
ordeal. While this might seem overly didactic, it is nevertheless smoothly and
convincingly handled on screen.
In some ways Black Silk is more effective now than when first shown. The
casual racism and the frequent use of repellent racial slurs it shows are now
virtually unthinkable in a television show, a sign of how much broadcast drama
has changed.
Sergio Angelini
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1. Police custody (2:09)
