The cutting edge of UK crime drama
BEARING WITNESS: MARION MCMULLEN LOOKS AT 25 YEARS OF BODIES AND GORY DEATHS IN SILENT WITNESS
VIEWERS around the world cannot get enough of murder and dead bodies in BBC TV crime drama Silent Witness. The series is watched by fans in 235 territories from Australia and America to Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. It was originally known in Germany as Ge richt sm ediz in erin Dr Samantha Ryan, which translates as pathologist Dr Samantha Ryan, and a dubbed version in France was simply called Autopsie.
Northern Irish star Amanda Burton was already a household name because of her role as Heather Huntingdon in Channel 4 soap Brookside when she was cast as lead pathologist Sam Ryan in Silent Witness.
“Sam managed to offset any gore in Silent Witness,” said Amanda, “you had this character who led you through the darkness and you felt safe with her. It’s the longest running crime show in the world and that is a remarkable achievement.”
The opening episode saw Sam heading to Cambridge and helping out the police after the body of a six-year-old girl was discovered floating in a river. Sam’s autopsy revealed evidence of abuse including cigarette burns and broken ribs.
Ex-policeman-turned-tv writer Nigel Mccrery was inspired by reallife forensic pathologist Professor Helen Whitwell when he came to create Sam Ryan.
He was part of a BBC graduate entry scheme and knew Helen Whitwell from his former police work. He described her as one of the most powerful intellects he had ever encountered and said she made a deep impression on him. She also acted as advisor on the first eight episodes of Silent Witness.
Amanda appeared in 54 episodes before Sam hung up her scalpel in 2004 and returned home to her family in Northern Ireland after a relative was implicated in a murder.
Sam has been back for the 25th anniversary of Silent Witness and Amanada says fans have been asking for years about a possible return. “That often happens when I’m doing my weekly shop in the supermarket, and I am a bit of a captive audience... 20 bunches of bananas later! We always have a bit of a cackle about that. The fans, of course, are fantastic and keep the show on the road.”
Emilia Fox took over as pathologist Nikki Alexander in 2004 and says: “I think that on my first day of filming I was found brushing my teeth in the mortuary by Leo, played by William Gaminara.
“I have loved the crime genre since I was little. I grew up reading Agatha Christie novels and Sherlock Holmes, and watching Inspector Morse and Cracker. I still remember the first time I saw the film Seven. So being asked to be part of Silent Witness was a dream come true. “When I got the part I watched all the Amanda Burton episodes to know the show, and I loved that it had crime-solving and the science, where you learn something.”
More than 200 episodes have been produced during the drama’s 25-year run and French and Saunders even paid tribute with a 1999 comedy sketch called Witless Silence.
It also remains one of the BBC’S biggest dramas and was third behind Eastenders and Line Of Duty on BBC iplayer over the last 12 months.
Many famous faces have also popped up over the years including Emily Mortimer in 1996, Nicholas Hoult in 1998 and Jack Dee in 1999.
Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs appeared alongside Amanda Burton in 2000 as Auschwitz survivor Dr Josef Horowitz.
Daisy Ridley ended up on the slab as a murder victim when she appeared in two episodes in 2004. It was her first major TV role before she went on to find fame in the Star Wars movies.
Before finding success with The Wire and Luther, Idris Elba appeared as a boxer called Charlie in a two-part story in 1997, Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch was the ex-boyfriend of a murdered girl in 2002 and Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer appeared in a 2012 episode with Tom Ellis and Tamzin Outhwaite, playing a girl named Eve Gilston.
Executive producer Lawrence Till said: “One of the reasons why the show has worked so well is because it has had to keep up with the development of technology. There have been huge shifts in forensic science since 1996. So many of our stories now are based around the internet, CCTV, the proliferation of DNA databases – things that weren’t there when the show began.”
Emilia says: “The DNA of the show is crime stories, and the way people commit and solve crimes. But it also incorporates very topical stories like health passports and challenging stories like domestic abuse. We are not afraid of that – the show can take it”
She adds: “From day one, I’ve always said I’ll stay as long as I enjoy it, and I still really enjoy it. The audience and I have been through a lot together. I never take for granted the privilege of being part of Silent Witness. Now that I’m also an executive producer, I really value it as part of my personal life as much as my professional life. It’s had a huge impact on me.”