Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: Silent Witness

Silent Witness Just Won't Die, Returning to the BBC in February

In February, Emilia Fox is back in a new series of Silent Witness, the long-running BBC series that's the Doctor Who of crime dramas.

Published Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:43:07 -0600

by Adi Tantimedh

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That series that will never die that's always about looking at dead people, Silent Witness, is back for five captivating new stories, told over 10 episodes, the team has relocated to Birmingham and Dr. Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox), Jack (David Caves), Harriet (Maggie Steed) and Kit (Fran Mills) face some of their most challenging cases yet. The series has run for so long that the BBC barely even needs to bother describing it anymore. Coroner solves murders. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Silent Witness Just Won't Die, Returning to the BBC in February — BBC

My God, how long has Silent Witness been running now? (looks it up) Twenty-nine series since 1996! The chilly and brittle Amanda Burton led the series as forensic pathologist Dr. Sam Ryan for the first eight series before Emilia Fox took over as Dr. Nikki Alexander. The series has had a turnaround of supporting cast throughout its run. You might be interested to hear that Nikki Alexander was inspired by real-life forensic scientist Dr. Brooke Magnanti, the pseudonymous blogger Belle du Jour, who wrote Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl, which became a series of books that were adapted into the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which starred Billie Piper after she left Doctor Who. See? Everything British has a connection to Doctor Who in the end. In fact, the lead pathologist character in Silent Witness has been rotated, replaced, and returned so many times – Sam Ryan came back before – that this series is practically the Doctor Who of British crime dramas. Right now, Emilia Fox is back for keeps as the lead. Maybe one day Billie Piper or Alex Kingston will end up starring as a pathologist on this show, too.

In this series of Silent Witness, Nikki and the team are joined by a major guest cast (that means more to British and Anglophile viewers, frankly), including Lydia Wilson (Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue), Chris Reilly (Slow Horses), Ben Batt (Riot Women), Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point), Selin Hizli (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Gerard Kearns (Waiting For The Out) Adam Rayner (Superman and Lois), Phaldut Sharma (EastEnders), Dino Fetscher (Fool Me Once), Cat Simmons (The Bill, Family Affairs), Chris Coghill (Slow Horses) and Mollie Winnard (All Creatures Great and Small).