Silent Witness series 28 starts tonight 6 January 2025 on BBC 1

[IwantToRetire]

Starting this thread (as I did this time last year) as the comments on the episodes on telly addicts are always so funny it makes it worth while sitting through the totally unconvincing plots, characters, so called relationships and ...

But who knows maybe this year will be different!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026l5k

I used to work as a secretary in a Pathology Department 20 odd years ago and bodies were not covered then to protect their dignity. They were treated with the utmost respect though.

Have now watched both of this week's episodes and an usual have got confused by there being so many characters.

So looking forward to others coming on this thread to explain the plot!

Because her sister said that he was dropping the story about Heron Point. he wasn't, she just said that because she wanted to come home after running away from the police.

Something else that struck me in the Heron Point story was the brilliant acting by the woman being told she had cancer. It really resonated with me because that's exactly how I reacted - couldn't speak, trying to process, almost out-of-body experience. Mine was cured thankfully but that scene took me right back to the moment of being told.

Was going to say the same thing.

Too many white men who were sort of involved but weren't

I had to look up her age and was surprised. She has enjoyed a lot of lovely holidays and ciggies. I like her as an actress.

I am rubbish with remembering details, esp names, so hopefully this isn't too confusing, and hopefully I have remembered things correctly

The barrister that was murdered was only meant to be scared off from reporting her findings into the missing defendants on her cases which were all linked to one crime family. Or she might have been warned off about the money her wife got to pay off debts.
As she had to get more prosecution work because her legal aid work had dried up, her wife got a high interest loan from the nail salon owner who I believe is part of this crime family.
She and her wife had a huge row when she found out who she got the loan from and she moved out.
The guy who was killed in the lawyers home was working for the nail salon owner. He appeared to be connected to the guy in prison for murdering the other body part, the femur, that was found in the river where her hand was found.
The man who came to see his pregnant daughter at the nail salon where she worked was given money to deliver the packages to various addresses.
The man they originally arrested for her murder I think should have been a client of hers if legal aid was available, but as it wasn't she was helping him so he could defend himself.
The lawyer who jumped I think was paying money to either the nail bar owner or to the guy she killed in her home, which was why the dad of the pregnant woman had the wad of cash he did.
The mother lawyer who she was having the affair with was made to look like he was the guilty one, but it was her all along.

I really enjoyed this one, as did my dd. I like how the characters work together, and I am in the minority here, but I do quite like the relationship between Nikki and Jack. Their characters have worked together for a very long time and I think that has created a bond between them.

Thanks so much! I was so confused.

wow! that's brilliant.

I really concentrated and missed loads of those links.

In fact by the end I felt I had never seen or heard of the man arrested.

Still felt this was a better episode, with less N&J time.

But also interesting that they are reflecting very current news in their story lines.

eg Barristers making really low wages, lack of Judges, court rooms, especially liked the shot of the mouse running towards the witness box.

I may end up re-watching the last episode as I really seem to have not understood the plot at all.

I like the new forensics girl. The way she wants so much to impress Jack with her work

I like her too. I like her voice and the way she talks strangely!

I think Kit's great too. Love her attention to detail and how intelligent she is.

Yes her face beams with kindness

She's great isn't she? And so pretty.

Really enjoyed this week's episodes despite the gory bits! The plot was just complex enough to be gripping but not so dense that I couldn't follow it.

I love how the new characters are fitting in and that's a massive improvement on the last series!

I don't think that can save them that much. Looking at Nikki's wardrobe and what we've seen of her flat in previous series, the Lyle pays its staff very generously indeed.

I think this series is better than previous ones, not least because they're allowing cops to do the running around after villains rather than leaving it all to Jack. This week's was really horribly graphic about the hand and the process of getting fingerprints, my sympathies were entirely with the police officer who didn't want to look. It must be really creepy as an actor to see a model of your severed head.

That said, I was shouting at the screen when they came up with the shot of the Judge's gavel at the beginning. The Secret Barrister is always banging on about that one - judges in the UK just don't have gavels. And they compounded it when the judge called the barrister "Counsel" rather than using her name.

I re-watched the last half hour of episode 2 of last weeks programmes.

Unfortunately it focused on what happened at the home of the prison guard.

And yes it had come about by good detective work, but then just became ridiculous with all the central characters arriving and interacting, and guns and hammers, and cups of tea.

Just so implausible, and means I have lowered my opinion of it being a better pair of episodes.

Although improved by not having Nikki and Jack being so involved.

And having watched that was surprised there are still 4 episodes to go.

Not sure why but I thought that was the end of this series with the silly remark from the lift about happy endings.

Cant wait to see what are dating duo will be up to tonight!

I’ve watched both episodes.
I’ll be back on Wednesday to discuss.

Omg why why why am I still watching this absolute drivel 🤣🤣. They need to think of a plot line whereby Jack and Nikki split up and it’s just never mentioned again.

The next thing is going to be a baby 😬

I think Nikki and Jack were colleagues, supported each other, became friends and a situationship developed. Perhaps both being a bit lonely, still single, and of a certain age, in a niche career difficult to talk to others about, together with some trauma bonding, all brought them to the trying to have a committed relationship point they are at now. I've known similar happen in real life. I'd say biological clock too for Nikki and Jack has mentioned children to her, but we know the actress is 50 and the character seems to be about 48.

Edited to add that thinking about N&J's 'relationship' is a few minutes of my life I'll never get back!

Isnt that Steph from Emmerdale?

I am very confused!

Enjoying it though