Silent Witness: a strong stomach is required | show

Who over the past quarter century has seen the crime series Silent Witness faithfully had to be able to take a beating. Over the years, viewers saw the insides of hundreds of corpses painstakingly cut open to remove organs. It all has to look as real as possible is the starting point for the makers in these roadside scenes.

The team of pathologist Nikki Alexander (played by Emilia Fox) does not take half measures when a cause of death has to be determined as part of a crime investigation. Organs are removed from the exposed corpses, weighed and emptied to determine what, for example, the deceased ate the night before.

Despite this pontifical approach, the series has been a worldwide hit for 25 years. Dutch channels, such as RTL 8 and BBC First, which can also be received here, also show a few episodes of the series, which now consists of more than 140 parts.

Although there have been many staff changes in the cast over the years, the series has not lost any of its impact. Initially, the team was led by pathologist Sam Ryan (Amanda Burton) who held the reins 54 times in the series and left in 2004. Since then, Nikkie Alexander, as her successor, has been a permanent force who can hardly be beaten when she usually works at odds with the various police forces. On the basis of her investigation, she digs deeper than the routine investigation of the detectives, which often consists of tunnel visions that she has no use for. Emilia Fox plays her role so convincingly that she is now also participating in an English television program in which real crimes are unraveled.

For the 25th season of Silent Witness the makers wanted to come up with something special. It was the reunion of Sam Ryan and Nikki Alexander that begins with an assassination attempt in Liverpool in which Ryan’s husband, who runs a medical company that has devised a revolutionary method of blood testing, is seriously injured. The Secretary of State for Health does not survive the hail of bullets.

The subsequent investigation is characteristic of the formula of Silent Witness† There are suspected culprits, including even Nikki’s ex, and the plot is, as usual, more complicated than it seems. The role of Sam who disappears from the radar for a while as the investigation progresses in this three-part anniversary episode also raises questions. Finally, Sam does reveal why she turned her back on the pathologist team at the time.

As so often, the scenes with the sections on the victims provide enough answers to put the investigative team on the right track.

For lead actress Emilia Fox is Silent Witness almost become a way of life. A few years ago she said in an interview with the AD: ,,Through this series I became fascinated in this pathological research. That an autopsy can answer so many questions about the cause of death and the circumstances of the assassination attempt, such as time of death or a medical abnormality, still amazes me. That’s why years ago, in preparation for my role, I attended some real autopsies to study the pathologists’ working methods.”

The sections made a deep impression on her. “It does make you think about the life we ​​have been given. I especially remember a corpse of a young man who had all the important events of his life tattooed on his body, the birth of his children, his wedding date, that sort of thing. Then you look differently at a cut open corpse. There lies a person who died prematurely. But in the series, I often can’t afford that kind of sentiment. Nikki has to deal with that as professionally as possible.”

What the actress also likes about the series is the current level of the crimes shown. “The writers are guided by what happens in the news. Such as the plight of illegal immigrants in England, the trafficking of women and Eastern European criminals showing up in London.”

During the jubilee season, the practices of pharmaceutical multinationals will be examined, among other things. Fox: ,,After seventeen seasons, I am still far from bored with Nikki. Although she has her working life reasonably under control, her love affairs are often damaged. That makes her far from boring.”

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