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Silent Witness: Seasons One and Seventeen DVD Review

      Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
  • Language: English (Stereo)
  • Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: October 21, 2014
  • Run Time: 363 minutes



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            Imagine the American television series, “Bones.” Now remove all humor, quirky characters, convenient plot twists and escapist entertainment. What you would have remaining is the long-running British pathology crime series, “Silent Witness.” Whether you would be happier with this than the mindless American show depends on how much accuracy you want from your programming, as opposed to entertainment. “Silent Witness” also has the benefit of TV-movie lengths for each of the mystery narratives, which allows for more detail and character development.

     

            The technician-dominated murder mystery series began in 1996 with a 90-minute two-part episode that introduced forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Ryan (Amanda Burton). With a new position teaching students, there are plenty of opportunities for Ryan to show her expertise before even solving her first crime involving the suspicious drowning of a six-year-old girl. This may seem a bleak beginning, but there are no light episodes in a show all about solving murders by evidence left on the corpse. Season one includes four film-length narratives. Although they were split up into two episodes for broadcast, they are edited into one single 90-minute chunk for the DVD release. Season one also includes the mystery of what seems to be a ritual killing, a death that takes place in police custody, and the murder of a refugee’s business partner.

     

         Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, NTSC
  • Language: English (Stereo)
  • Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
  • Number of discs: 3
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: October 21, 2014
  • Run Time: 512 minutes




  •         Season eighteen in slated for 2015, and the seventeenth season appears to have been released alongside of the first with hopes of building a new viewership for its return. Ryan has long since departed, replaced in 2004 with Dr. Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox). There are other pathologists who have joined along the way, including recent additions Jack Hodgson (David Caves) and Thomas Chamberlain (Richard Lintern). Season seventeen has another five narratives, originally broadcast as ten episodes. The stories remain as bleak as ever, including a buried stripper, a dead pregnant girl in a suitcase, and an ex-soldier accused of killing two gay boys.

     

    Entertainment Value: 5.5/10

    Quality of Filmmaking: 8/10

    Historical Significance:  6.5/10

    Special Features: 0/10

     

     

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