I've never seen a single episode, but I hear it's really quite good, so I'm recording the current episodes. Is it worth going back and watching them from the beginning? Did they keep the quality level high over all those years?
shareHa - great question for which you will get many answers.
Personally, Silent Witness isn't one show it is 4 or 5 shows. Below is not exact and there are small bits of crossover such as around Series 8, which is the real changing of the Guard.
I - Sam Ryan Series 1 to 5
II - Sam, Leo & Harry Series 6 to 8
III - Leo & Harry Series 8
IV - Leo, Harry & Nikki Series 8 to 15
V - Nikki & Jack 16 to 19
I have watched all of them, every single one, and personally, if you want to go the whole hog, do watch them all BUT if you just want something almost similar to the modern Silent Witness you can safely ignore the first 5 or 6 series.
I would suggest starting at series 8 if you don't want to invest everything, purely because if you don't like Sam Ryan you might be put off the whole series and it really gets brilliant from Series 8 onwards up to 14 or 15. Body 21 in Series 8 is where it becomes Classic Coke or the Best Duran Duran line-up. I think of Leo, Harry and Nikki as "Silent Witness". If you watch Series 8 to 15 you will have everything you ever needed to know about Silent Witness everything else adds to the canon but is not absolutely essential.
As a back up plan go with everything that has Leo Dalton Series 6 onwards, still with Sam Ryan, but this can also be viewed as where modern Silent Witness starts, series before that have, in my opinion, dated quite badly and bears little resemblance to what we have now.
Good luck and have fun, you won't regret it....
'tler
Thanks, you've given me a lot to think about.
I have read that some people found Sam Ryan annoying. What was it that some people don't like?
And how are the earlier series dated? Is it the story? The acting? A bit of everything? Are they still good despite being dated?
Usually I'm a sucker for going back to the beginning, because I feel like I'm missing out on character background etc otherwise. But as the characters change that shouldn't really be an issue.
When it comes to box set options, the choices are either series 1-6 or series 7-12, which pretty much match what you said. Although if I went back to the beginning then buying series 1 first might be an idea in case I don't like Sam Ryan either.
Having read what you said then you will probably enjoy the early series, however it is like watching an entirely different show. It's like Watching Morse if you are a fan of Lewis, you can see the connections but they are different beasts.
The dating comes from the obvious things like fashions, 'phones and the autopsies looked like they were done in a scout hut at some points, old single cast Iron windows and wooden doors compared with the hi-tech swooshing of the more modern series. The stories themselves are just as good but they are just put together at a slower pace. Editing is majorly different and of a different time. Today is very cut cut cut, this was much more leisurely. Early Silent Witness is very much of it's time and feels, to me, dated. But then it was 20 years ago so it is bound to and it is a weak criticism. The show that I watched recently that reminded me of it was "Between the Lines"
Go back to 1 and if you don't like it skip forward to 7 or 8.
'tler
Thanks, I think I'll do that. Try series 1, then either continue all the way through or skip to series 7.
shareThis is a good overview however me personally adore seasons with Sam Ryan, and also find series 16 to 19 so much better than 8 to 15 which I kind of "had to endure". Those were so stereotypical and predictive with too many too slow scenes and unnecessary repeatings, but I watched it as I like to watch every show chronologically.
Anyway thanks for the answer it was helpful in the start and I am so glad I watched it from the start thanks to it :)
The current Silent Witness is unrecognisable from the original. It's just become another bog standard glossy genre show with far fetched plots and villains (although even the Ryan period couldn't resist the old "stalk the coroner you blame for mistake" cliche.) The recent series pays lip service to "issues" but is more lazy "ripped from the headlines" rather than having something serious to say.
The original beautifully built up the back story and character of Sam Ryan in a way that doesn't happen in the latest version. The stories were also more socially conscious and seemed to be actually ABOUT something as opposed to milking tropes for cheap thrills. The actress who portrayed her also had impeccable annunciation which seems lost with a lot of contemporary performers.
Emilia Fox is a far weaker actress and her character lacking in substance (although we have just been informed she doesn't find it easy to trust people. Unsurprising considering the absurd Emma Peel-like danger she is perpetually put in during her action packed career as a pathologist.)
Probably the lowest exploitative moment the contemporary version gave us occurred when a long running popular character was found killed off in the most lurid manner possible. As it turned out, a cruel hoax on the audience that is hard to forgive.
If you have ever seen Sky's parody series "A Touch of Cloth" you will see an exact replica of the satirical "denouement heights" scene played out in one recent Silent Witness episode featuring Adrian Dunbar.
So it depends which Silent Witness appeals more.
I agree with much of what you say Gary, there are quite a few different shows in SW, but the rot, in my opinion started later than that (Series 15). Although the Adrian Dunbar episode is pure carp. The worst of the lot. Much as you seem to love Sam's character I liked the dynamics of Leo, Harry and Nikki. I just don't buy into Jack, Melissa and Nikki at all. We are having discussions as to whether to bother next week and if we had any kind of social life at all would probably be quite happy to give it a miss.
To the OP you will find your way and as you see the "Sam Ryan years" has it's supporters. It'll be interesting to see what you think.
'tler
I don't agree with your comments on the latest team of Silent Witness. Although it was poor to begin with and the new cast uncertain of themselves in S.16, it has improved a lot since. With this last series (19) they really have bedded in well. This was one of the consistently strongest series as far as storylines go. Clarissa's eccentricity and barbed asides are a joy. And Jack and Nikki work well together despite the lack of romanticism between them unlike the case between Harry Cunningham and herself. The trouble with SW is that it has been very inconsistent. It can be brilliant at times, and then at other times it can be totally unbelievable or the plotline just plain stupid.
I've been catching up on some of the older episodes that I had missed with the Leo, Harry, Nikki team. I watched series 10, which for the most part had very dull and contrived storylines so that I never even bothered to watch the concluding ep. However when we get to eps 9 and 10, what a difference compared to rest of that series. The whole thing came alive (story about members of a young anti-vivisectionist group being tortured and murdered)It had some of the most gruesome torture scenes I'd ever seen on tv, mainly in ep 10. The story made some very strong points about corporate corruption, cover-ups and the parents of one of the victims jumping to the wrong conclusion as to the fate of their daughter. Brilliant 2 episodes, which goes to show how varying in standard SW can be within just one series.
I've got series 1 so I'll give that a go and see if I like Sam Ryan. If not then I'll skip to series 8 or so. Although I did record the latest series so I'll have to watch that at some point too.
shareThe problem wasn't really Sam Ryan as such it was Amanda Burton's portrayal of the character and her abysmal acting. Having watched from the very beginning it was lucky to get what would be classed as a reboot these days. imo the "Leo, Harry and Nikki" was esaily the most watchable period and what I would classify as Classic Silent Witness whereas the Sam Ryan era I regard as Original Silent Witness.
The more recent Silent Witness are treading water no more.
I've watched from the beginning and loved it. For some reason, after all these years, Silent Witness is still Sam Ryan to me. But the show became classic Silent Witness with the Harry, Nikki and Leo years
But those years were almost a different series to the earlier seasons (where the cast would change every season until Leo and Harry joined Sam in season 6). Bur both incredibly good
It's the last few seasons since they did the unforgiveable to Leo that I struggle with. And I still miss Harry. Although the shoq is still interesting, I just can't take to Thomas, Nikki, Jack and Clarissa
I'm currently watching this show on Amazon prime, which I happened to stumble on by chance. So far i'm liking it. Particularly the nostalgic mid 90s time period, London area setting and the very "vintage" instrumental soundtrack.
share