Silent Witness is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squad detective based in Nottingham. Twenty-seven series of Silent Witness have been broadcast since 1996, with series 27 airing in January/February 2024. Amanda Burton starred as primary character Dr. Sam Ryan before leaving the show during the eighth series. Since her departure, the series has featured an ensemble cast, which initially consisted of William Gaminara, Tom Ward and Emilia Fox, and later on David Caves, Liz Carr and Richard Lintern alongside Emilia Fox. At the end of series 23, Carr and Lintern departed. The cast was joined by Genesis Lynea from series 24, who departed at the end of series 25. Series 26 saw Aki Omoshaybi, Rhiannon May and Alistair Michael join the regular cast. The programme is broadcast in more than 235 territories, including ABC in Australia, Showcase and the Knowledge Network in Canada, KRO in the Netherlands, TV One and Prime in New Zealand, BBC First in South Africa and BBC America in the United States. Silent Witness continues to achieve good audience ratings in the UK.

Background

The main character in the original series was based on Professor Helen Whitwell, a forensic pathologist based in Sheffield, whom McCrery had known while serving as a police officer. The programme followed the activities of pathologist Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton, until she departed early in the eighth series. There was a succession of regular supporting characters, changing almost every series, but Dr Leo Dalton (William Gaminara) and Dr Harry Cunningham (Tom Ward), who were introduced in the sixth series, continued as lead characters following Ryan's departure, with Dalton replacing her as professor. A new character, Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox), was introduced in mid-series eight, based on Dr Brooke Magnanti, a forensic scientist based in Sheffield. While working as a forensic anthropologist, she appropriates facilities and software in the pathology department to analyse an Iron Age find, with the belated, bemused and begrudging approval of Dalton. Dr Alexander is able to assist in a set of cases being investigated by the team, as it turns out she has "worked in forensic pathology in Johannesburg for six months" and is certified by the Home Office to practice. She eventually overcomes Leo's reluctance and, with Harry's support, is offered and accepts a position on the team. Before the 16th series begins, Harry has left to accept a position in New York City. He is succeeded by forensics expert Jack Hodgson (David Caves) and his assistant Clarissa Mullery (Liz Carr). At the climax of the 16th series, Leo is killed in an explosion. His replacement, Dr Thomas Chamberlain (Richard Lintern), is introduced at the start of the 17th series. Although the show focuses heavily on areas of pathology, the police also have a presence in each case. During later series of the show, detectives and investigators tend to differ from episode to episode, with guest artists appearing in these roles. However, during the early years of the show several characters appeared regularly to investigate each case. The first three series were set in Cambridge. This changed to London from the start of the fourth series, following Sam as she took up an academic position in the Lyell Centre, the Pathology Department of UCL. The programme remained in an academic setting until the end of series 16 when the Lyell appeared to have become separated from the university and operated as a stand-alone institution. Each series is typically made up of a series of two-part stories. The first nine series generally featured eight episodes (four two-part stories), except that series 4 and 5 each featured just six episodes (three two-part stories); this was increased to ten episodes (five two-part stories) from the tenth series onwards, except series 12 and 15 which each featured 12 episodes (six two-part stories). The 25th series, broadcast in 2022, introduced a new format consisting of one story in six episodes. In 1998, the writer John Milne received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the second series episode "Blood, Sweat and Tears". In the United States the series airs during 'Mystery Monday' on BBC America.

Music

The theme music from series 2 onwards is entitled Silencium and is performed by John Harle. The arrangement, for chamber orchestra and soprano saxophone solo, was first performed publicly as part of the Canterbury Festival on 22 October 2011. The vocal section is performed by Sarah Leonard.

Critical review

An episode first broadcast in April 2012 attracted criticism for its violent and sadistic content. There were 632 complaints made about the fifteenth-series episode Redhill, written by Ed Whitmore, which included a scene depicting a sadistic sexual and murderous attack. The BBC was censured by the editorial committee of the BBC Trust, which said in its report: "When the prison officer emerged from the toilet holding the bloodied stick with a pool of blood on the toilet floor, viewers were left in no doubt that an act of sexual violence was being carried out.... The committee concluded that the final scenes in the toilet block were in breach of the guidelines on harm and offence as they exceeded audience expectations for this series as they depicted a sadistic method of inflicting pain, injury and death." The BBC had responded to the initial criticism of the episode by saying that it took its responsibility to its audience "extremely seriously" and always tried to "strike the right balance between compelling drama without being unnecessarily graphic". It said that "The final scene was not an attempt to gratuitously shock the audience;... We acknowledge that certain scenes may have been challenging, but we filmed and presented them in such a way as to make sure that although as a viewer the implication was there, it was never actually shown."

Episodes

Characters

Overview

Main

Recurring

Guest appearances

Silent Witness features a number of notable future established actors in guest appearances, including Emily Mortimer, Idris Elba, Nicholas Hoult, Benedict Cumberbatch, Susie Porter, Jodie Comer, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Daisy Ridley, Daniel Kaluuya, Jim Carter, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan, Tamsin Egerton, Jason Watkins, Evanna Lynch, John Hannah, and Sean Pertwee.

Home media

Australia

In Australia (Region 4), series 1 through 23 have been released on DVD through Roadshow Entertainment, starting with series 1 on 7 September 2006 through to series 21 on 28 May 2018. Universal then took over the releases beginning with series 22 on 20 November 2019, and have re-released some earlier seasons this time as individual seasons rather than 2 season editions.

United Kingdom

As of February 2024, all 27 series have been released on DVD. In addition, all episodes (barring two from series 1) from all 27 series have been made available on the BBC iPlayer.

Novels

During the early years of the show, series creator McCrery wrote and published four tie-in novels relating to the series, following Sam Ryan (Amanda Burton), Trevor Stewart (William Armstrong) and Superintendent Tom Adams (John McGlynn), and brand new character DS Stanley Sharman, with Burton generally appearing on the front cover of each novel. A fifth novel, "In Search of Evil", was due to be released in 2003, but its publication was cancelled.