Do you get a sense of the person from their body?
Not particularly no. In certain circumstances you can tell a person was distressed when they died because of, for example, injuries to their body (self inflicted or otherwise). When they come from the ward they look very peaceful.
do you have many female colleagues in your profession?
No problem 
I can see why, as it used to be a very male dominated profession. Nowadays there is a huge increase in the number of women working in the industry and in fact there is only one man working in our department.
Can you explain a bit please about the reasons a PM might be required? I understand in murder enquiries but is suspected foul play/medical negligence the main reason for having them?
Foul play and possible medical negligence (hospital ordered PM's) make up a very small percentage of our workload. The majority of our work actually comes from the community. A PM would be required in the event of an unexplained death (such as someone being found at home, someone having a fall then dying in hospital) or a violent or unnatural death - violent in the sense of physical trauma due to say a car crash, fall, work accident (not murder) and unnatural meaning suicide, poisoning etc).
In your Nans case unadventuretime I am unsure why a PM was necessary, but their would have been a good reason, such as suspicion that she had a fall or obtained a head injury. It's not routine at all to put someone who as terminally ill through an unnecessary PM, and I am sorry your family were put through that 
As for hidden corridors, even I was excited about them when I started at the hospital!
Dontknowwhatwillmakeitbetter
I am pleased to have reassured you and I am sorry your fathers death was traumatic for you all. Anyone treating the deceased with nothing but the utmost care and respect is very seriously sanctioned. I have seen people lose their jobs over it.
December2018
No problem. People are so curious about the work that we do, so hopefully my answers are helpful t those who ask.
I am considering leaving my body for research , do you have to deal with those bodies ? Would my body go to morgue first then to the human tissue authority ?
Any body left for medical research has to be assessed as suitable by a doctor who looked after the patient and who determined the cause of death. If they were in hospital when they died they would come to us until the relevant body (HTA, anatomy school, research institute) were ready to collect them.
There are certain criteria a person has to meet to donate (
A certain weight and without certain conditions). You can find this information out from the relevant organisation you wish to donate to. If full body donation isn't possible there are places who will take brains, hearts and other organisation for research.
Definitely have the paperwork filled out ready, and file it away. Make family aware and write your wishes up in your will. They will need paperwork in order to respect your wishes. (I hope my answer makes sense and isn't too garbled!)
Atetoomanyjaffacakes
Definitely try and get some relevant experience as it will increase your chances greatly. If you can do some work with a funeral director or a bereavement organisation (if you have time) it will look brilliant on your CV.
How would I get into this line of work? Without any gcses? Even if it was just to volunteer one day a week along the lines of what you do.
As I mentioned above, volunteering in a relevant organisation will look really good on your CV. As for volunteering in a mortuary, it's very difficult to get a placement due to the sheer amount of red tape involved. I would advise contacting funeral directors and bereavement charities and asking about their opportunities.
StorminaBcup
You are very welcome. We are quite thorough, and the pathologist inspects everything individually too.