It used to be Silent Witness was an eminently watchable series. It had tight writing, solid acting and intriguing story lines. No more. The dialog is infantile. The acting unnatural and stagey. But most of all, in this case especially, the guilty party is presented to us in the first half hour. It spoils the rest of the story. There's no mystery who the villain is. But that is just the beginning of plot holes, ridiculous coincidences, stereotypes, sloppy editing and boring conversations. I wonder if the folks behind this series studied the demographics and decided the average Silent Witness viewer has an IQ of 100 or below.
12 Reviews
Weak and muddled
nathan198113 January 2023
Unfortunately not a great start to a new series, the acting was wooden even from the more experienced cast members , the plot played like a before watershed childrens mystery and the script was abysmal , childish attempts at humour and a unsophisticated plot, hate to be so negative but it was one of the poorest attempts at prime time drama on UK television in sometime. Sometimes I think shows try to go in 'new' directions but this one totally got lost when it did it. The main leads attempt at a blossoming new romance fills the throat with a sicky feeling. I hope reviews reflect this and force creators back to the drawing board, rant over.
Do the writers get any money?
pufflingpants6 January 2023
I really do not understand how it can be that a so well loved series gets the most hideous scripts with dialogues that make you cringe and dread the upcoming sentence - which you already know, because it's out of the "writing trivial, nonsensical, unbelievable crap for idiots"-book. At some point of this longrunning series I stopped watching, because I couldn't take any more of what is at the end an insult to the intelligence of the viewers. Now we are at that point again.
Do they get paid enough? This lazy writing, who approves of it? Who says, yeah, that's good. Let's do that. Let#s destroy all the characters, especially the leading ones, make them flat, act like no human would, make them completely inconsistent with what they have been built up to be in the previous years and let them talk rubbish.
I feel sorry for all the actresses and actors involved.
Do they get paid enough? This lazy writing, who approves of it? Who says, yeah, that's good. Let's do that. Let#s destroy all the characters, especially the leading ones, make them flat, act like no human would, make them completely inconsistent with what they have been built up to be in the previous years and let them talk rubbish.
I feel sorry for all the actresses and actors involved.
Promising start to the new series.
Sleepin_Dragon2 January 2023
'Everything we do is maybe.'
The team are called in when a man falls to his death at an office block, The Lyell team instantly lock swords with The NCA.
Fair play to the production team and actors, after the six part story back last summer, a full series has followed just six months later.
It's a very good series opener, very little focus on Nikki and Jack, it was almost exclusively focused on the story, the death of the two men. Perhaps a little pedestrian to begin with, it wasn't long before it opened up into a pretty dramatic affair.
The scene with the pigs, that was pretty grim, although I did enjoy the various swine jokes.
I can see Velvy becoming an interesting character as time goes on, he's definitely a little quirky to begin with, I liked him.
How great to see Sophia Myles here, what an underrated talent she is, a real presence. Really liked Chloe also, I hope we see more from here.
Hard to believe this show's been going as long as it has, on this evidence though, it has a lot of life left in it yet.
8/10.
The team are called in when a man falls to his death at an office block, The Lyell team instantly lock swords with The NCA.
Fair play to the production team and actors, after the six part story back last summer, a full series has followed just six months later.
It's a very good series opener, very little focus on Nikki and Jack, it was almost exclusively focused on the story, the death of the two men. Perhaps a little pedestrian to begin with, it wasn't long before it opened up into a pretty dramatic affair.
The scene with the pigs, that was pretty grim, although I did enjoy the various swine jokes.
I can see Velvy becoming an interesting character as time goes on, he's definitely a little quirky to begin with, I liked him.
How great to see Sophia Myles here, what an underrated talent she is, a real presence. Really liked Chloe also, I hope we see more from here.
Hard to believe this show's been going as long as it has, on this evidence though, it has a lot of life left in it yet.
8/10.
Disappointed
barry_j_kay14 January 2023
Having been an avid fan of Silent Witness of many years, from Series 25, I feel it has went downhill and have been left disappointed.
Its script writing and ability to deliver the story in a well acted and realistic way has always been very good.....until now.
I feel that now the main issue is the script writing followed by poorer acting and quite unrealistic scenes and generally poor story telling.
This was confirmed by watching Series 26. It fails to transition between series 25 and and 26 in terms of staffing/new members of the team and the relationship between Nikki and Jack.
Also the series 26 episode 1 & 2 story is relatively good on paper but very poorly delivered and acted out.
Many key omissions from realism and blatant holes in the story.
I question whether I would continue to watch it.
Its script writing and ability to deliver the story in a well acted and realistic way has always been very good.....until now.
I feel that now the main issue is the script writing followed by poorer acting and quite unrealistic scenes and generally poor story telling.
This was confirmed by watching Series 26. It fails to transition between series 25 and and 26 in terms of staffing/new members of the team and the relationship between Nikki and Jack.
Also the series 26 episode 1 & 2 story is relatively good on paper but very poorly delivered and acted out.
Many key omissions from realism and blatant holes in the story.
I question whether I would continue to watch it.
Ignore the negative reviews.
linseedoyle5 January 2023
Back once again, Silent Witness continues to roll on, despite the budget cuts at The BBC, it always feels like this show is vulnerable, something of a British Institution. I had hoped that Amanda Burton might have returned, that would have been something.
It is a complex story that isn't perhaps going to be everyone's cup of tea, but persevere with it, it's a rewarding hour of your time. It felt a little more Line of Duty than Silent Witness, heavier plotting than we're normally used to.
Doctor Gabriel Folukoya and Velvy were interesting new characters, I see them fitting in well, the shake up that was needed, I wasn't a fan of the last intake of team members.
It is a complex story that isn't perhaps going to be everyone's cup of tea, but persevere with it, it's a rewarding hour of your time. It felt a little more Line of Duty than Silent Witness, heavier plotting than we're normally used to.
Doctor Gabriel Folukoya and Velvy were interesting new characters, I see them fitting in well, the shake up that was needed, I wasn't a fan of the last intake of team members.
Really disappointed
anriet23 January 2023
I've loved this series until this season aired. It's predictable and poorly planned. The plot falls flat and the characters are boring. If the next episode is as bad as the first three, sadly I won't be watching any further. The show seems empty and not as rich as previous seasons. Also the way the characters seem to imagine what happened to the victims seem like a cheap filming method. There's no wanting more from this season. Something is missing. Maybe the ideas have dried up or was written in haste with only the need to get it on air mattering. Whatever the reason for this season's total failure to captivate, I won't be wasting my time on it further.
How bad can it get
Casino-Royale29 January 2023
Poor script, overload of PC and workery- then I read the other day the BBC said if you don't like it don't watch.
Advise taken, I won't bother anymore even though our licence PAYS for this utter BS.
Are the actors that have been in it for over a decade that desperate for work?
The storyline's have been getting poorer and poorer since series 15 but now they're on a massive downhill slide.
They've always been slightly ridiculous with the pathologists all acting like one man, one woman crime fighter's but you could put up with it because it was pretty decent with Harry and Leo - but now there's no single redeeming character.
For those 9 and 10 star reviews saying ignore the negative reviews - you're clearly watching CBBC.
Advise taken, I won't bother anymore even though our licence PAYS for this utter BS.
Are the actors that have been in it for over a decade that desperate for work?
The storyline's have been getting poorer and poorer since series 15 but now they're on a massive downhill slide.
They've always been slightly ridiculous with the pathologists all acting like one man, one woman crime fighter's but you could put up with it because it was pretty decent with Harry and Leo - but now there's no single redeeming character.
For those 9 and 10 star reviews saying ignore the negative reviews - you're clearly watching CBBC.
This show keeps getting worse
sammiea-641-36153926 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This show just continues to get worse and worse each new season. The acting is bad...but the that pales in comparison to the terrible scripts. Nikki and Jack are boring characters who think they should handle everything except their jobs to solve the crime...the scripts but them in stupid scenarios doing things nobody with their job training would do...for example, going to other countries like they are the only ones in the entire world with their job skills. Unbelievable interactions with law enforcement that questions their ethical conduct as well. The only bright points for this season are that (1) Simone is gone and good riddance and (2) Sam Ryan didn't come back! That's the only reason I even gave it a try. Didn't start watching the show until after the St. Sam years and after last season, which was much too Sam heavy for me, I was afraid her character would return. As it is, either way, not worth watching anymore. The show needs new writers - preferably some with talent. And the same is true for actors. The show needs to find new talent that can actually act..instead of as in Nikki's case, just crawl into bed with any available (or not!) male. Give us ethical, believable, interesting characters with even somewhat realistic plots. They couldn't doing a whole lot worse. Oh...and get somebody to give Nikki a shampoo and have her eyebrows waxed. Her unibrow is a little 80's...
The seriesd has moved away from pathology and science and ended up with personalities
georgedyson-7419729 August 2023
I have watched this series from the beginning and as a scientist myself, was struck by the fact that it was focused on science and not emotional personal dilemmas for a change. However, this seems to have been lost as the series has continued and now we are back to the too frequent schlock of personal relationships taking precedence over science. To me this is a death knell for the show for those of us that watch it for the SCIENCE!
This show was built around pathology and forensics and how it is all part of a crime investigation. The police are the ones that run the investigation while the pathologists and forensic specialists unearth facts from the bodies and recovered items that aid the police. Pathologists are NOT police detectives themselves. Sure they can be creative in finding items around crime scenes for analysis but there are limits!
I find it sad that the series has taken this very unfortunate turn as I suspect that many others will stop watching the show given it has lost its raison d'etre.
This show was built around pathology and forensics and how it is all part of a crime investigation. The police are the ones that run the investigation while the pathologists and forensic specialists unearth facts from the bodies and recovered items that aid the police. Pathologists are NOT police detectives themselves. Sure they can be creative in finding items around crime scenes for analysis but there are limits!
I find it sad that the series has taken this very unfortunate turn as I suspect that many others will stop watching the show given it has lost its raison d'etre.
Disappointed!
dsauc22 August 2023
I loved all 25 seasons of this show! Couldn't wait for season 26 to come out! I am so disappointed. They had continual use of Gods name in vain at least 9 times in the first 2 episodes! They had a Jack cursing using the name of God over and over. They have never used language like this on the show and to do it over and over repeatedly and unnecessarily was ridiculous. I turned it off in the second episode. Such a great show but everything is being turned into evil. I hope the writers realize that they are losing viewers that appreciate a good and wholesome show. It bordered on ridiculous because it was over and over with the Jesus Christ comments. To never have that in your show and then to add it every 8-10 minutes is disgusting and disrespectful.
Horrible episode
Clementine4421 February 2024
This is terrible. There is terrible writing, but I think the story wasn't much to work with. The acting is good, but I feel bad for the actors because this is some terrible crap to work with. Terrible. Can't say terrible enough. Please bring back the normal stories and don't try to be fancy unless you can pull it off properly. Never seen so many words thrown about with no actual point. Need more words to make the target goal. Will repeat below.
Please bring back the normal stories and don't try to be fancy unless you can pull it off properly. Never seen so many words thrown about with no actual point.
Please bring back the normal stories and don't try to be fancy unless you can pull it off properly. Never seen so many words thrown about with no actual point.
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