{"id":8733,"date":"2017-12-12T09:59:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T14:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/silent-witness-celebrates-two-decades-success\/"},"modified":"2017-12-13T09:48:02","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T14:48:02","slug":"silent-witness-celebrates-two-decades-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/silent-witness-celebrates-two-decades-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Silent Witness Celebrates Two Decades of Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hilary Salmon, the head of drama out of London at BBC Studios, talks to <\/em>TV Drama about the\u00a0British crime drama Silent Witness, which\u00a0made its debut in February 1996.<\/em><\/p>\n

Silent Witness<\/em>\u00a0has been going strong for more than two decades, notching up a series average of 8.2 million viewers. Produced by BBC Studios in London, the prime-time BBC One show holds the title as the longest-running crime drama currently airing on TV anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

The series centers on a team of forensic pathologists helping police solve murders by using clues found on the bodies of the victims. It began by focusing on a single pathologist, played by Amanda Burton, but has evolved into more of an ensemble cast, currently featuring Emilia Fox, David Caves, Liz Carr and Richard Lintern.<\/p>\n

Silent Witness <\/em>\u201cfound its tone very early on\u201d and has remained true to it, says Hilary Salmon, the head of drama out of London at BBC Studios, and that is perhaps one of the reasons for its longevity. \u201cWhat pathologists deal with is life or death, so it has a seriousness of tone about it that is always respected in the series. At the same time, the characters have formed a kind of family at the heart of the show; we have always made sure that the stories mattered to one of them, and \"***Image***\"hopefully not in too contrived of a way. That brings a warmth to the show. Their relationship with each other, their banter and love for one another is what makes it accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salmon says that another key to its success is in the writing talent working on the series. \u201cLike all successful returning shows, you need two potentially contradictory things: you need stability on the one hand and renewal on the other. We’ve been lucky to have some really experienced heavyweight writers who want to come back to Silent Witness <\/em>regularly and write these slightly difficult two-hour stories\u2014which have to have a hook at the end of the first hour, and each has to have a world all their own. At the same time, we’ve always known that we need to find new writing talent to bring in fresh ideas, to think about how you might structure a story differently and bring some different muscles to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stories for each season are varied as well, Salmon notes. \u201cSome of our most memorable episodes have been about a contemporary issue,\u201d she says. \u201cThis year, episode four is about the treatment of disabled people in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show has also been kept fresh with the introduction of new directors, one of which is Destiny Ekaragha. The young black female director has made a push for more females to be involved behind the scenes and to have greater diversity in front of the camera.<\/p>\n

Casting is another way the show has been moved forward throughout the last 20 seasons. Within the central members of the pathology team\u2014which remain the same for each story, working alongside a different set of police officers\u2014new faces have been introduced in such a way that there is overlap with the outgoing characters. \u201cIt is about evolution, but also trying not to make that evolution too abrupt,\u201d says Salmon. \u201cWe have made sure that there\u2019s always a hand-over between characters who are familiar to the audience before a new character is introduced\u2014that\u2019s one of its huge strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show has advanced visually as well. For season 21, this includes new lenses, a redesigned set and revamped title sequence. The city of London is also being featured more prominently as the backdrop. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit glossier, a little more filmic,\u201d says Salmon. \u201cWe have not made huge changes. The audience won\u2019t sit down and think, Oh, Silent Witness <\/em>looks completely different! They will think that the show respects its audience. It doesn’t rest on its laurels. It feels a bit fresher, a little more upmarket. It’s about not taking the audience for granted any year. We’re always making sure that we’re trying to give them the best of what television can offer, even though it\u2019s such a long-standing show. That is one of the secrets of its success. You never relax into thinking that the audience will come anyway\u2014never think that. It\u2019s always important to make sure we are doing our absolute best work, even within such a familiar format.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is perhaps one of the reasons the show has traveled so widely: Silent Witness <\/em>has been sold into 235 territories around the world. \u201cCrime series travel full-stop,\u201d Salmon says. \u201cAlso, whether it was Amanda Burton or now with Emilia Fox, we\u2019ve always had an engaging and highly watchable leading lady, which helps a show travel. And, those two-part stories travel. Not many producers make them, and there are a lot of broadcasters that really love them because it means that you can play two nights in a row and the post-watershed slot is full.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as filming Silent Witness <\/em>season 21, Salmon and the team at BBC Studios in London have been working on Our Girl<\/em>, starring Michelle Keegan, about a female medic in the British army. There\u2019s also more Luther<\/em>, which will start filming with Idris Elba in the new year. \u201cIt will be a four-part show with one story, which we\u2019ve never done before,\u201d Salmon says. \u201cIt has enabled us to dig deep into Luther\u2019s character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up for the producers is Mother Father Son<\/em>, written by Tom Rob Smith, who also penned London Spy<\/em>. An eight-part authored drama for BBC Two, Mother Father Son <\/em>is about a powerful family who owns media outlets and newspapers around the world. \u201cIt\u2019s a really exciting project for us,\u201d says Salmon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hilary Salmon, the head of drama out of London at BBC Studios, talks about the\u00a0British crime drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":8734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70],"tags":[201,1138,2292,2291],"class_list":["post-8733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-bbc-one","tag-bbc-studios","tag-hilary-salmon","tag-silent-witness","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSilent Witness Celebrates Two Decades of Success - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/silent-witness-celebrates-two-decades-of-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silent Witness Celebrates Two Decades of Success - 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