Silent Witness
| Silent Witness | |
|---|---|
Title card (2015—present)
|
|
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Nigel McCrery |
| Starring |
Amanda Burton William Gaminara Tom Ward Emilia Fox David Caves Liz Carr Richard Lintern |
| Theme music composer | John Harle |
| Composer(s) | Sheridan Tongue |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 20 |
| No. of episodes | 182 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Phillipa Giles Laura Mackie Jessica Pope |
| Producer(s) | Sharon Bloom Anne Pivcevic Ceri Meyrick |
| Running time | 45 minutes (Series 1—5) 60 minutes (Series 6—present) |
| Distributor | BBC Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Picture format |
4:3 (Series 1—4) 16:9 (Series 5—present) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 21 February 1996 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Silent Witness is a British television crime drama series, produced by the BBC, which 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. He later went on to create the hit series New Tricks, with writer Roy Mitchell. Since 1996, twenty series of the programme have been broadcast. Amanda Burton originally starred as primary character Dr. Sam Ryan, before leaving the show during the eighth series. Since, the series has featured more of an ensemble cast, currently consisting of Emilia Fox, David Caves, Liz Carr and Richard Lintern. 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, and BBC America in the United States. Twenty years after its inception, Silent Witness continues to achieve good audience ratings; with the last series drawing in an average of nine million viewers.
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 pathologist Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton. However, Burton's character departed early in the eighth series. 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, 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. 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 practise. 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. During the fifteenth series, Dr. Cunningham leaves to accept a position in New York City. Subsequently, he is replaced by forensics expert Jack Hodgson (David Caves), and his assistant Clarissa Mullery (Liz Carr). During the sixteenth series, Dr. Dalton is killed in an explosion. At the start of the seventeenth series, his replacement, Dr. Thomas Chamberlain (Richard Lintern), is introduced to the team.
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Wikipedia