BBC orders second helping of Silk

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theartsdesk readers were aghast and appalled when BBC One supremo Danny Cohen cancelled detective series Zen after a paltry three episodes. However, he has made amends of a sort by commissioning a second series of Peter Moffat's legal drama Silk, after series one ended last night.

And why not? Its characters and plots proved compelling, and the show's viewing figures over its six-part run have averaged around 5.9 million, when catch-up viewing on services such as BBC iPlayer and Sky Plus are taken into account.

"Maxine Peake has excelled in Silk and we're delighted to be bringing this high-quality, popular drama back for a second series," said Cohen. BBC Drama controller Ben Stephenson added: "Having a writer of Peter Moffat's calibre writing a series is what drama at the BBC is all about." Quite so. Meanwhile gentlemen, beware the wrath of theartsdesk!

Watch Silk on BBC iPlayer

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