Professor Colin Teevan pens episode of BBC TV drama Silk
Professor Colin Teevan has written the latest episode in the major BBC One courtroom series Silk
Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Professor Colin Teevan (pictured, right) has written the latest episode in the major BBC One courtroom series Silk.
The 60-minute programme is available on iPlayer until 7 April.
The gripping storyline, including an unexpected and dramatic finale, focused on a legal case about a mother accused of murdering her tetraplegic teenager. The two main characters in the series, Martha Costello QC played by Maxine Peake and Clive Reader QC played by Rupert Penry-Jones, represented opposing sides in the courtroom. Claire Skinner – best known for playing the mother in the BBC One series Outnumbered – was the guest star in this episode of Silk.
The screenplay was an opportunity for Professor Teevan, of Birkbeck’s Department of English and Humanities, to fulfil a longstanding ambition to write about the right-to-die debate. He consulted barristers and QCs and spent time at the Old Bailey observing a murder trial to ensure the legal aspects of the plot were accurate.
Professor Teevan said: “Silk is a show I rate and it has a fine cast. It was a really enthralling journey to go into a completely different professional world and explore a thorny issue. Popular TV drama can be about big themes.”
A handful of names of Birkbeck academics from the School of Arts were also used for the names of characters in the episode, which was broadcast on Monday 10 March. Professor Teevan added: “I thought I would borrow some names as a nod to Birkbeck. It was a little bit of fun.”
Professor Teevan also worked with the other screenwriters for the six-part series to ensure continuity between the sub-plots throughout the third series of Silk.
Accomplished writer and teacher
Professor Teevan’s plays, including The Kingdom, Kafka’s Monkey, The Bee, The Lion of Kabul, and How Many Miles to Basra?, have been performed all over the world. He has written more than 10 plays for BBC Radios 3 and 4. In January 2014 he won the Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Play at the Radio Awards for Marathon Tales, which he co-wrote with Birkbeck Associate Lecturer Hannah Silva. Marathon Tales will be repeated on 11 May on Radio 3. His original mini-series about the notorious Irish leader Charles J. Haughey, called Charlie, starring Aiden Gillen, will premier on Irish television in January 2015, and he is currently developing two original series for BBC 1.
Professor Teevan teaches writing for stage, screen and radio at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Birkbeck.