Silent Witness

Amanda Burton's Professor Sam Ryan is a clever, highly-intelligent and sometimes intimidating coroner and professor at London University. Her professional qualifications set her apart from other coroners in the area, and so she is regularly called upon to assist the police at homocide crime scenes and in subsequent autopsies. In the style of a murder-cop show starring someone besides a cop, Professor Ryan manages to solve all of the cases herself, only occasionally calling on the aid of one of the actual police officers. This series is very often intense and graphic during some of the autopsy scenes, but it is consistently well-written and well-acted. Very little of Sam Ryan's private life leaks into the series, and the series' primary focus on the murder in question is somewhat unusual to this genre. When a glimpse of Professor Ryan's personal life is revealed to the audience, it leaves them curious for more. Silent Witness is a very well-written show and I highly recommend it when it next appears in reruns!

But, this show is gripping and engaging. The science fascinates me. I admit the first few seasons focusing on Sam Ryan were ok for the most part but I was glad of the switch to character driven storytelling when Dr. Ryan decided that her story ended when she found what happened to her family. When the storyline started to evolve into more interesting and diverse characters, then is where my interest started to catch fire. There is a mountain of backstory in each and every script, and if you want to catch it all you must pay very close attention. I love Britbox, it's pretty cool. Here's hoping for season 27. Wow. That's a lot of seasons.

This series continues to grow in interest, quality and plot lines.

Whenever people rave about CSi, (which I consider it, and it's even lamer derivatives to be THE worst drama on TV), I always point them to Silent Witness. It follows accurate pathology, police routine and technology, and doesn't talk down, or dumb down. If you want to see pathologists at work, then you are going to see cadavers opened up. (That's what they do.) If you don't like that sort of thing, stop complaining that it's sick and go back to washed-out, inaccurate American cop shows that wouldn't know a dead body if it jumped up and bit them. (Or just lay there looking pretty with a cloth laid over their naughty bits.)

I always enjoy this show for the following reasons: It gives a wonderful insight, if simplified, into the world of forensic pathology, an area in which I would love to work.

Each new case is original, well constructed and thoughtfully presented. They remain topical, without the feeling of an after-school special relating to current affairs.

Unlike shoddy American drama, the focus is on the storyline and character development. The reason that dialogue is not snappy and constant is because it would turn the characters into one of the "Friends" brigade - where cheap laughs are more important than the integrity of the character.

The show is challenging - plots and subplots intertwine cleverly, meaning it's not a "background" show, but one which is completely consuming for the viewer.

The honest make-up/autopsy scenes. These just fit, without being sensationalist, and add to the realistic feeling of the show.

This show is a favourite of mine. I'm rarely bored watching it, but anyone thinking it's realistic must be high as a kite.

It has good pace and throws enough red herrings in the mix to keep me (usually) unsure as to who did what and how it will all pan out.

However, you do have to swallow the idea of a forensic team that could easily be confused with a posse of rogue policemen. These people don't just do forensic science and make occasional court appearances. They barge past detectives to interrogate witnesses (the detectives never seem to mind this) and chase and tackle suspects. They have guns held to their heads every so often. They get out there and meet all the players, sometimes even date them. Some of them do it all tottering around in high heels. It's utterly ridiculous but the success of the show testifies to its dependable entertainment value. Enjoy with a large grain of salt.