The Worst Film Ever

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I have literally grown up with Silent Witness, it's got some incredible staying power. Hard to believe it started back in 1996 and is still going strong twenty years later. Many thought that Series 8 would mark the end of the show with Amanda Burton's departure. I remember at the time being totally gutted she'd decided to leave, but cleverly Emilia Fox was brought in and the show was reborn.At times it's a tough watch, some of the stories are quite dark and harrowing, Redhill is a good example. Sometimes they are a little too graphic, though in recent times they seem to have toned down some of the nasties, A Guilty Mind is very graphic. The series has never shied away from being controversial.It's great that viewing figures are stronger now then ever before, showing audiences still love it and want more. We've been treated to some incredible stories over the years, some highlights include Shadows, Falling Angels and The Prodigal. My favourite story being Bloodlines, which is an incredible piece of television, it has it all, excitement, suspense, drama, an emotional connection perhaps not previously achieved in the series.I understand it faces criticism for being inaccurate, I don't think it strives to be, and I doubt Pathologists solve as many crimes, neither of these points matter one bit, it's a show designed purely for entertainment....Long may Silent Witness continue. 10/10

Silent Witness is, put simply, a brilliant show. Not only are the plots very honest, the bodies realistic and the acting quite good but the characters are fantastic. This is a show that isn't afraid to say that crimes aren't always solved, the right people aren't always put in jail, your favourite characters aren't always in love and England isn't the good guy all the time. The characters are witty, funny, intelligent and kind but also stubborn, untrusting and sometimes almost awful people. Not only are they in-depth characters with flaws but they are all very different and have wonderful chemistry. For me, the most stand out feature of the show, asides from the characters, are the endings. In most crime dramas the episodes end not only with the bad guy being caught and put away for a long time but society seems almost to have changed. Gang wars have been stopped or racism has lessened. In silent witness it is a common occurrence that the 'bad guy' isn't put away for what we feel is a just amount of time, we see that despite the fact that a murder has been solved there will continue to be bloodshed. The only bad thing I have to say about the show is: "Dammit Harry and Nikki, why didn't you get together?"

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.)

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!