“I always know when it is time to move on and this is it,” she told Radio Times. By the time pre-production was under way on the eighth series, Burton had decided to go. That evolution has been apparent throughout the show’s history. “I think they stay with us because they are invested in the characters – we have great characters who are very different and keep evolving. "We have a historical fan base who support the show," Carr notes. That’s not to say the interactions of the team investigating aren’t important to the drama as well. "Finding the clues through the body is really the heart of the series, allowing the Lyell team to piece together the last moments of someone’s life and being able to give answers to loved ones," Fox explains. Nigel McCrery devised the series concept in the mid-1990s, based on his own experiences as a police officer, and while it was originally a star vehicle for Amanda Burton, it evolved into an ensemble piece with Burton’s departure and the arrival of Emilia Fox as new forensic pathologist Nikki Alexander.īut no matter whose name is first in the credits, the victim – the 'silent witness' of the title – is always the focal point of the episode. (Though the violence displayed by one of the detectives to his former lover “was not an attempt to gratuitously shock the audience”, according to the official BBC response to complaints.) While it hasn’t reached Luther-like levels of violence (and attendant complaints), Silent Witness has pushed the envelope, notably with the 2012 episode 'Redhill', set in a jail where a child molester has been found dead. That topicality has even meant sometimes making viewers feel uncomfortable. We have almost an uncanny crystal ball-like ability to tell stories that are very topical and relatable.” "But often these stories are written months before these real stories are headlines. “When the series comes out, you’ll think ‘Oh my goodness, there was a case like this in the news last year!’" says Liz Carr, who plays technician Clarissa Mullery. The second story in the 2019 season explores the effects of drugs and drug dealing on school children, families and communities. It started as gruellingly as it meant to go on – the very first case featured the body of a 6-year-old girl who’d been abused with cigarette ends, while the third centred around the death of a gay man in police custody. Related: Silent Witness star Emilia Fox explains why the series is still as gripping as ever after 22 yearsĪcross its long, long life, Silent Witness has addressed present-day concerns, and always feels to the audience as if it’s dealing with matters drawn from the headlines. What hasn’t changed though is the crusading zeal for the truth from the dedicated team of forensic pathologists at the Lyell Centre – and the likelihood of at least one shot per episode that’s going to have audiences peering through their fingers. Proving just how flexible its format is, watch the very first episode now and it feels in some ways like a completely different show – perhaps unsurprisingly there’s no cast member who’s stayed the course. Silent Witness kicked off its 22nd series last night (Tuesday 8 January) on BBC One, and later this month will celebrate its 200th episode. “The concept of the ‘silent witness’ somehow speaking is a really powerful and massively flexible concept,” – Richard Lintern, aka Thomas Chamberlain in Silent Witness.
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