Silent Witness is a British crime drama television 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. Twenty-six series of Silent Witness have been broadcast since 1996.
Amanda Burton starred as primary character Dr. Sam Ryan before leaving the show during the eighth series. Since her departure the series has featured an ensemble cast, which initially consisted of William Gaminara, Tom Ward and Emilia Fox, and later on David Caves, Liz Carr and Richard Lintern alongside Emilia Fox. At the end of series 23 Carr and Lintern both departed. The cast was joined by Genesis Lynea from series 24, who departed at the end of series 25. Series 26 saw Aki Omoshaybi, Rhiannon May and Alistair Michael join the regular cast.
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, BBC First in South Africa and BBC America in the United States. Silent Witness continues to achieve good audience ratings in the UK. In 2011, for example, Series 14 attracted an average audience of nine million viewers.
The main character in the original series was based on Professor Helen Whitwell, a forensic pathologist based in Sheffield, who McCrery had known while serving as a police officer. The programme followed the activities of pathologist Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton, until she departed early in the eighth series.
There was 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, continued as lead characters following Ryan's departure, with Dalton replacing her as professor.
A new character, Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox), was introduced in mid-series eight, based on Dr Brooke Magnanti, a forensic scientist based in Sheffield.