The final episode of the current series of Silk, starring Bolton’s Maxine Peake, will be the last ever.

The BBC1 legal drama featuring stage and screen star Maxine as feisty QC Martha Costello, Rupert Penry-Jones and Neil Stuke will end with series three this month.

She appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning with the show's creator Peter Moffat to talk about Silk’s demise and her upcoming plans.

Mr Moffat said: “I think, with drama series, it’s really important to go out when you want to — when it’s going well, on a high.”

Maxine, who went to Westhoughton High School, told how she spent time at Manchester Crown Court and the Old Bailey in London after she landed the part.

The pair also revealed filming for the next series of BBC period drama The Village, also written by Peter and starring Maxine, begins on Monday.

Maxine joked: “If he doesn’t give me a job, I’ll kill him.

“It was a fantastic series.

“We had a read through (on Wednesday) and we start filming on Monday.”

The final Silk storyline will unfold over two episodes, beginning on Monday and concluding the following week.

It is believed there will be a shocking twist at the end of the final episode on Monday, March 31, although the pair remained tight-lipped about what is set to come.

Maxine said: “It’s because we can’t remember.”

According to the BBC, “viewers will see Martha's growing personal disillusionment force her to question everything she stands for. Her instability takes her to a dangerous place, but will logic prevail?”

News that Silk is to end has been greeted with disappointment by fans of the show, which has regularly pulled in audiences of more than five million.

Mick Collins, one of the writers behind the TV series, will bring three new dramas focusing on the show’s clerks to Radio 4 next month with Neil leading the team as the charismatic head clerk Billy Lamb, with Bethany (Amy Wren), Jake (Theo Barklem Biggs) and John (John MacMillan) also appearing.

Silk, which was commissioned by BBC drama head Ben Stephenson, and then BBC1 controller Danny Cohen, was first shown on BBC1 in 2011. It was Bafta nominated for its second series.