Silent Witness

For other uses, see Silent Witness (disambiguation).
Silent Witness
Created by Nigel McCrery[1]
Starring Emilia Fox
David Caves
Liz Carr
Richard Lintern
William Gaminara
Tom Ward[2]
Amanda Burton
William Armstrong
Sam Parks
Jaye Griffiths
Arsher Ali
John McGlynn
Clare Higgins
Ruth Gemmell
Nicola Redmond
Mick Ford
Richard Huw
Nick Reding
Mark Letheren
Composer(s) John Harle (theme),
Sheridan Tongue (incidental)
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 19
No. of episodes 168 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Phillipa Giles
Running time 90 minutes (series 1–5)
120 minutes (series 6-)
Release
Original network BBC One
Original release 21 February 1996 (1996-02-21) – present
External links
Website
The main cast of Silent Witness from series 8 to the end of series 15, from left to right: Tom Ward (Harry Cunningham), Emilia Fox (Nikki Alexander) and William Gaminara (Leo Dalton)

Silent Witness is a British crime drama series, produced by the BBC, focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, and still on air, the series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squad detective based in Nottingham. He later went on to create the hit series New Tricks, with writer Roy Mitchell.

Background

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 originally followed the activities of a female pathologist, Professor Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton. However, Burton's character departed early in the eighth series in 2004. There had been 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 in 2002, remained in the series and continued as lead characters following Ryan's departure, with Dalton replacing her as professor. A new character, Dr. Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox), was introduced to the team in the eighth series in 2004. 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 had "worked in forensic pathology in Johannesburg for six months" and is Home Office certified to practice. She is of such assistance that she overcomes Leo's reluctance and, with Harry's support, is offered and accepts a position on the team.

Series 1–3 were set in Cambridge. This changed, however, to London from the start of series 4, following the lead character as she took up an academic position. The programme is typically made up of a series of two-part stories, six to eight episodes for series 1 through series 9 & ten to twelve episodes from season 10 to present. In 1998, 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 show aired during 'Mystery Monday' on BBC America. It airs in Norway using the name "Tause vitner" on the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK[3] and in Sweden on TV4 using the name "Tyst vittne".[4] Both the Norwegian and Swedish titles are direct translations. The show is also broadcast in the Netherlands by public broadcaster KRO, Belgium on VRT channel Canvas and in Finland on the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle using the name "Hiljainen todistaja", which is a direct translation of the original title.[5]

Twenty years after its inception, Silent Witness continues to achieve good audience ratings;[6] The approach of the show, portraying a pathologist as having an active role in the crime investigation, was parodied by British comedic duo French and Saunders as "Witless Silence". Dead Ringers also parodied Silent Witness, with Sam Ryan as an overconfident pathologist who makes incredibly specific guesses about the body; for example, "Just by looking I can tell that this was a man aged 35–37 called John, having an affair with his secretary", only to be proved wrong by one of her assistants: "No, that's an onion bagel I got for your lunch."

Although the show heavily focuses on areas of pathology, the police also play a heavy presence in each case. During latter 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.

Music

The theme music for Silent Witness is a song called "Silencium" by John Harle. The arrangement, for Chamber Orchestra and soprano saxophone solo was first performed as part of the Canterbury Festival on 22 October 2011.[7] It is sung by Sarah Leonard.[8] The incidental music for Silent Witness is written by BAFTA nominated composer Sheridan Tongue.

Episodes

For more details on this topic, see List of Silent Witness episodes.

Characters

Current

Former

Overview of main characters

Character Actor Years Series Episode Count
Dr. Nikki Alexander Emilia Fox 2004– 8.5– 116
Jack Hodgson David Caves 2013– 16.1– 40
Clarissa Mullery Liz Carr 2013– 16.1– 40
Dr. Thomas Chamberlain Richard Lintern 2014– 17.1– 30
Professor Sam Ryan Amanda Burton 1996–2004 1.1–8.2 54
Professor Leo Dalton William Gaminara 2002–2013 6.1–16.10 106
Dr. Harry Cunningham Tom Ward 2002–2012 6.1–15.10 96
Dr. Trevor Stewart William Armstrong 1996–1998 1.1–3.8 24

     – Character has a major role in the most recent nineteenth series

International broadcast

Country Television Network
Australia Australia ABC[10]
Canada Canada BBC Canada, Showcase and Knowledge Network
Netherlands Netherlands KRO
New Zealand New Zealand TV One (series 1–12),[11] Prime (from series 13 onwards)[12]
United Kingdom United Kingdom BBC One
United States United States BBC America

Novels

During the early years of the show, series creator McCrery wrote and published a number of tie-in novels relating to the series, following Sam Ryan (Amanda Burton) and Trevor Stewart (William Armstrong), as well as former main character Superintendent Tom Adams (John McGlynn), and brand new character DS Stanley Sharman, with Burton generally appearing on the front cover of each novel. The fifth novel, due to be published in 2003, was placed on indefinite hold, and has never been released.

Title No. Publication Date
"A Case for the Defence"19 September 1996
Walking home from a night out, Sam stumbles upon the remains of a mutilated body on a footpath in the Northwick graveyard. Evidence suggests that the killing may be linked to a particularly ritualistic form of the black arts, but Sam is unconvinced as the murder bears an uncanny resemblance to another murder committed in the same town many years ago. When a second body is discovered, Sam's evidence is called into question, and is used to create the information that the police need to solve the case, before the killer strikes again. As Sam and Trevor uncover information surrounding the circumstances of the murders, elements that once seemed like coincidences soon appear to belong to a more horrific plan.
"Strange Screams of Death"23 August 1998
Sam is tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman whose body is discovered in a disused shed at a former American airbase on the outskirts of Cambridge. The post mortem reveals that she had been violently raped, before being tortured, and viciously murdered. When a second body is discovered in similar circumstances, Sam finds herself dealing with a serial killer, who has the hunger to slaughter again. Can her profile of information find the identity of the killer before it is too late? Meanwhile, as Tom Adams closes in on his prime suspect, Sam discovers that he may not be working alone, and a search is launched to find the accomplice of a dangerous criminal.
"The Spider's Web"32 August 1999
Sam is asked to perform a second autopsy on a teenage boy who was killed in a tragic joyriding accident, when despite his parents' protests, the results of the autopsy seem clear—he died of multiple injuries consistent with a high-speed car crash. However, as Trevor performed the post mortem, Sam is reluctant to go up against her friend and colleague, in an attempt to find the answers that the family are looking for. However, reading Trevor's post mortem report prompts Sam to go ahead with the second autopsy, and her findings seem to suggest that the accident may have been no such thing. But neither Trevor nor Superintendent Tom Adams accept her findings, and believe that she is reading between the lines.
"Faceless Strangers"43 September 2001
When the wife and beau of a local member of parliament is found dead in her own home, Superintendent Tom Adams calls upon Sam and the entire resources of the Cambridge Constabulary, in an attempt to further his career, and solve the case as quickly as possible. However, his investigation is halted by the discovery of the decomposed body of a homeless drug addict in the local underground toilet block. When Adams dimisses the death as an open and shut case, one of his juniors, DS Stanley Sharman, decides to enlist Sam's help, to discover the indentity of the dead woman – and discover just who is responsible for her death. Meanwhile, Adams is determined to crack his case.
"In Search of Evil[13]"53 November 2003
When the body of elderly widow Violet Thorpe is discovered beneath the floor of her own cellar, Sam quickly establishes that she had been poisoned, and died more than a year prior to the discovery of her body. Meanwhile, the victim's contact with an old friend living in Brighton, appears to be a vital piece of evdidence in discovering who is responsible for her murder. When Sam and DS Stanley Sharman visit the address of the old friend in Brighton, they find themselves on a bizarre trail of a mentally deranged killer, who appears to be travelling up and down the country in search of lonely old ladies to kill, and Sam finds herself in a race to discover the identity of one of the country's most prolific serial killers.

Criticism

In August 2012, Silent Witness came under criticism for the show being "unduly gruesome". Controversy was specifically found in Series 15 episode Redhill written by Ed Whitmore that, according to complaints, was "too violent". The BBC responded with the following:

"As programme makers we take our responsibility to the audience extremely seriously and try to make sure we strike the right balance between compelling drama without being unnecessarily graphic. Towards the end of the first episode we had established that DI Bridges and Officer Kessler had previously worked together and that he was the one very much in control. The final scene was not an attempt to gratuitously shock the audience; it was rooted in character and research, showing just what DI Bridges was prepared to do for her colleague for the sake of her family, as well as the brutality that Kessler was capable of. 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. Silent Witness is now in its 15th series and we believe the general tone and content is widely recognised by its regular audience. It’s fair to say the show is known for tackling challenging stories and exploring adult themes and we don’t feel the content of these episodes would have gone beyond viewers' expectations. As well as scheduling the series after the 9pm watershed, we made sure the content was widely publicised and gave a warning before both episodes."[14]

See also

The use of forensic pathology in the investigation of crime has been the central theme of several TV mystery-suspense dramas, including:

References

  1. Silent Witness entry at TV.com
  2. "Tom Ward to leave Silent Witness". Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. "NRK TV – Tause vitner". NRK TV.
  4. "Tyst vittne – tv4.se".
  5. "Silent Witness release info". IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  6. Liz Jaques. "TV Overnight Ratings; Retrieved 25 January 2011". MediaTel. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  7. "John Harle". musicsalesclassical.com. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  8. "John Harle – Discography". johnharle.com. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  9. "Arsher Ali". Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  10. "Silent Witness". ABC Television.
  11. tvnz.co.nz/silent-witness/show-432523
  12. "Drama".
  13. "In Search of Evil (Silent Witness): Amazon.co.uk: Mccrery Nigel: Books". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  14. "Complaints – Silent Witness, upsetting scenes, BBC One 22 and 23 April 2012". BBC. Retrieved 2014-07-21.

External links

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