Series 27 of Silent Witness sees the slow reintroduction of a team dynamic, alongside some uneven writing
“I think we’re entering the realm of speculation”
At this point in proceedings, I’m mainly watching Silent Witness out of habit rather than real desire. I still maintain that making Nikki and Jack a couple is a terrible decision as there’s so little chemistry between them and so much recent turnover in the rest of the supporting characters has resulted in a nagging sense of transience to the Lyell team.
Over its 5 two-part stories, Series 27 feels a little uneven but in its opening and closing stories, does manage to capture what the show does best. I covered opener Effective Range here and finale King’s Cross is quietly devastating as the collected work of a serial killer is discovered and the team have to delve into every ounce of forensic knowledge to identify the 8 victims and deliver justice too. Neil Pearson, Hermione Norris and Jude Akuwudike add real quality in the guest cast.
Inbetween, there’s an odd mixture of cases that seem overly concerned with hitting hot button issues like the Daily Mail’s front page. Cancel culture in academia, council staff working from home, online conspiracy theories and deepfakes, it’s all a bit awkwardly shoehorned in to the caseload here, particularly as little of insight is added to any of these subjects.
Emilia Fox is increasingly bland as Nikki, efficient as always but rarely engaging, and I’m liking David Caves’ Jack less and less, all smug I-know-best vibes even when he’s so reliant on collaboration to do his work. Aki Omoshaybi’s Professor Gabriel Folukoya and Alastair Michael’s Velvy Schur each get a weird story-long subplot (boxing! poverty!) that is quickly forgotten but along with Rhiannon May’s Cara, a team dynamic does once again seem to be being built up which is definitely for the best.
