Crack forensic team are back to uncover the truth…

NINETEEN seasons in, Silent Witness hasn’t lost its magnetism. It’s like the love child of CSI and Bones and is just as compelling with myriad interesting cases.

The whodunit, initially conceived by Nigel McCrery, who went on to create New Tricks, was based on Professor Helen Whitwell, a forensic pathologist based in Sheffield. McCrery’s work as a police officer saw the two often cross paths.

The wealth of information he has absorbed on the job inspired the idea for this TV series.

When it first aired, Amanda Burton was cast as Professor Sam Ryan. She essayed the role for eight years until Dr Nikki Alexander (played by Emilia Fox) was written into the storyline.

Over the years, there have been several actors who have come and gone. One of the more popular roles was that of Dr Leo Dalton (William Gaminara), who was killed off in a terrorist bombing in season 16.

Since then, Nikki has been filling his void.

Her crime-solving style is very different. And her emotions often get entangled with the case. But she always remains a professional.

Silent Witness, like most of the crime dramas from the UK, has a brilliantly written script for every episode. And the cast, aside from Nikki, are a mix of interesting personalities. Jack Hodgson (David Caves) has an interesting life. After Nikki and Leo poached him to come and work for them, his time is split between the lab and being a cage fighter.

A wheelchair-bound Clarissa (Liz Carr) is the lab assistant who joined in season 16. She has quite a feisty and funny side and is fiercely protective of her team.

Last up is Richard Lintern (playing Dr Thomas Chamberlain), who replaced Leo as the head of the Lyell Centre.

While the mainstay of the story is about the team relying on science to find the perpetrators or truly heinous crimes, it is often intermingled with personal issues. Sometimes it could involve a romance or someone being haunted by a past crime.

Or, as at the start of this season, it could be based purely on revenge.

Nikki found herself framed by someone with an axe to grind about a case she testified on almost a decade ago.

From a directing perspective, each episode often starts with several seemingly unrelated events occurring at about the same time. As the episode gains momentum, a common thread linking all these incidents emerges.

And it is up to the team to piece together the evidence and, in so doing, solve the cases.

Whether the team are called to remote countrysides or the concrete jungle of the city, there is always a hovering ominous threat of danger. And that’s coupled with frustrating red tape and politics, propelling the team to sometimes go “rogue” in their investigation.

Well-written, adroitly directed and a wonderfully enacted series for fans of the genre.

Silent Witness airs on BBC First (DStv channel 119) on Fridays at 9pm.