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Silent Witness

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	Topics Silent Witness Topic Home *Silent Witness* is a long-running BritishUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast... televisionTelevision Television is a telecommunication system for... thriller series made by the BBC's in-house Drama Serials production department, and screened on the BBC OneBBC One BBC One is the primary channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation.... channel. First broadcast in 1996, it is still running as of 2007 with an eleventh series that started broadcasting on 28 August 2007. The series was created by Nigel McCrery a former murder squad detective in Nottingham. He later went on the create the hit series 'New Tricks' with Roy Mitchell. The series was based on Prof. Helen Witwell a forensic pathologist based in Sheffield. McCrery had known Helen while serving as a police officer. The drama itself gets very good viewing figures, as on the tenth series (2006), it normally attracted around six million viewers in the UK (from MediaGuardian.co.uk's overnight report). BARBBroadcaster's Audience Research Board BARB, the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, is the organisation that compiles television ratings in the UK.... later revealed the final figures, proving the drama's higher successes as they received around seven million viewers each episode. In the United StatesUnited States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is... , the show airs during "Mystery Monday" on BBC AmericaBBC America BBC America is the BBC Worldwide owned-and-operated television network in the United States, which was launched on March 29,... . The programme originally followed the activities of a female pathologistForensic pathology Forensic pathology, first recognized by the American Board of Pathology in 1959, is a branch of medicine concerned with dete... , Dr Sam Ryan (who was promoted to professorProfessor Summary The meaning of the word professor varies.... part way through the series), played by Amanda BurtonAmanda Burton Summary Amanda Burton is an actress best known for her role as forensic pathologist Doctor Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama series ... . However, Ryan's character departed early in the eighth series in 2004. There had been a succession of regular supporting characters, changing almost every series, but Dr Leo Dalton and Dr Harry Cunningham, who were introduced in the sixth series in 2002, remained in the series and continued as lead characters following Ryan's departure, with Dalton replacing her as professor. A new character, Dr Nikki Alexander, was introduced to the team in the eighth series in 2004. She began as a palaeontologist, not a pathologist, and was originally enlisted by the team to help analyse bones. Alexander was later represented as having the necessary qualifications to fill the vacancy for a pathologist left by Professor Ryan, although she was initially stated to have a PhDPHD PHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization... in anthropology and not a medical qualification. She has, however, since been represented as medically-qualified. Some early series were set in CambridgeCambridge The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire.... , but it relocated to LondonLondon London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom.... after Dr Ryan had a serious brush with the authorities. The programme is typically made up of a series of two-part stories, usually with six to eight episodes per series. 2006 saw five two-part stories, making ten episodes in total. The series is often criticised for apparently showing the pathologist actively investigating the crime. This characteristic of pathologist as urban hero follows on earlier similar series such as Quincy, M.E.Quincy, M.E. *Quincy, M.E.* is the name of a United States television series that aired from October 3, 1976, to May 11, 1983, on NBCas... on US TV (itself based on an earlier Canadian TV series WojeckWojeck *Wojeck* was a Canadian dramatic television series, which aired on the CBC from 1966 to 1968.... ) and is also shared by the continuing CBSCBS CBS is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States.... series . The theme music for Silent Witness is a song called "Silencium" by John HarleJohn Harle John Harle, born 20 September 1956 in Newcastle upon Tyne is a saxophonist/composer. ... . In 1998, writer John Milne received an Edgar AwardEdgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America.... from the Mystery Writers of AmericaMystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.... for the Series 2 episode "Blood, Sweat, and Tears". The music for Silent Witness (Series 9 - present) is written by BAFTA nominated . Parodies The approach of the show, portraying pathologist as having an active role in the crime investigation as parodied by British comedic duo French and Saunders as 'Witless Silence'. Dead RingersDead Ringers (comedy) *Dead Ringers* is a UK radio and television comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC2.... also parodied Silent Witness, with Sam Ryan as an overconfident pathologist who makes incredibly specific guesses about the body; for example, 'Just by looking I can tell that this was a man aged 35-37 called John, having an affair with his secretary', only to be proved wrong by one of her assistants ('no that's an onion bagel I got for your lunch'). She then refuses to accept her mistake claiming 'wrong? Oh I'm never wrong. I'm forensics professor Sam Ryan PhD'. Episodes Note: All episodes in series 1, 2 and 6 to present series are two parts (60 x 2 parts = 120 minutes in total for each episode). Series 3, 4 and 5 are all 120 minutes episodes each (ie. two parts joined as one for each episode). Series 1: Buried Lies (premiere episode, Amanda Burton's first appearance, her associate(s) were normally guest stars) Dr Sam Ryan, whilst looking into an apparently accidental death of a child who drowned, finds injuries on the child that show that is had been shaken viciously. But the police want to close this case. Long Days, Short Nights Darkness Visible Sins of the Father Series 2: Blood, Sweat and Tears Cease upon the Midnight Only the Lonely A young woman is found strangled and her husband becomes the main suspect, but Peter Ross thinks that this case may be linked to an unsolved murder. It appears that the murderer may have killed again, but Sam and Peter are in disagreement about the case. Friends Like These Sam is enjoying her relationship with Peter, when a random and vicious murder claims their attention. Then Sam sees two boys re-enacting a murder, she becomes certain that the team are going after the wrong suspect Series 3: An Academic Exercise Fallen Idol (-Sam Ryan investigates the murder of a young estate agent.) Divided Loyalties (-When a drug user and her child are found dead , it becomes evident that a serial killer is on the loose.) Brothers in Arms Series 4: Gone Tomorrow A Kind of Justice A Good Body Series 5: The World Cruise (-Sam Ryan investigates the murder of two Jewish brothers found dead by their cleaner.) Two Below Zero (-The body of a young girl is found in a holiday ski resort in Norway) Faith (- Sam Ryan is unconvinced that the death of a headmaster's wife is the result of a suicide.) Series 6: The Fall Out (William Gaminara and Tom Ward's first appearance, ensemble cast established) Kith and Kill Tell No Tales Closed Ranks Series 7: Answering Fire Fatal Error Running on Empty Beyond Guilt Series 8: A Time to Heal (Amanda Burton's final appearance) Death by Water (Duo ensemble — Gaminara and Ward [Leo and Harry investigate the death of a school boy and a mystery illness affecting his classmates. Leo is also faced with the decision whether to replace Sam Ryan]) Nowhere Fast (Emilia Fox's first appearance) Body 21 Series 9: Ghosts Choices The Meaning of Death Mind and Body Series 10: Cargo (- the team investigate the deaths of several asylum seakers after the boat they were on crashed in the Thames) Terminus Body of Work Supernova Schism Series 11: Apocalypse Suffer the Children Hippocratic Oath Double Dare Peripheral Vision Series 12: Details not yet released External links at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.uk The URL bbc.co.uk is the brand name in the United Kingdom for the online services of the British Broadcasting Corporation.... shooting script at BBC Writers Room - BAFTA nominated TV & Film Music Composer.