User Reviews

Well this season was ok. It could have been better, particularly the long arc should have been shortened for a tighter story. The story line was quite a stretch, even for fiction.

But... It was VERY much better than the last season's terrible final 4 episodes. I hope this is a beginning of getting back on track for SW.

I was getting a bit bored with Clarissa centered story lines, but now I see that she was key to keeping the series at a higher level. Liz Carr made everyone around her better.

Faulkner is released from prison, David is on the run, and Sam is still missing.

I can imagine the story at its conception, a mood board, the idea, a story that questions the future, the very essence of forensic science in particular.

I hate to say it, but as with the last few episodes, I come away from this feeling a little flat, somewhat underwhelmed by what I've just watched. The idea was great, bringing Burton back was genius, and the production team have nailed it. However.....

...The story has felt disjointed, I've struggled with the lack of correlation from one part to the next, I truly think it would have worked better if Ed Whitmore had written the whole thing, a single writer would have made it feel so much tighter.

Forty five average minutes, five brilliant minutes to end it with. If you managed to stick at it, the ending is really worth it, it was great.

Too many random things, ex husbands, missing family members, maybe it it had been an eight part series, it would have worked better, there were so many threads dangling.

The death of an officer should have mattered more, unfortunately her character was so wafer thin, it didn't seem to matter. Amanda Burton, she was wonderful early on, but the show suffered due to her lack of screen time.

I didn't particularly rate Duncan Preston when he appeared in episode three, the weak link of the series, but credit where it's due, he was great here, a much more assured, assertive performance, he delivered, and also seemed to elevate Simone.

David Leon stood out once again, what a good actor he is.

Please BBC, go back to the two part stories, I think the story arc was ambitious, I'm not too sure it worked.

First 45 mins 4/10 last 15 mins 9/10.

6/10.

If Silent Witness continues, it needs to either reinvent itself entirely with a new group of writers able to write complex storylines or to return to its corpse-of-the-week two-parters, which is its greatest strength. No more longer ongoing storylines, they're just not good at this. (I repeat - whatever happened to Nikki's American boyfriend?)

Anyway, more to the point: this would have worked much better as a two-part story, by removing all the unnecessary subplots or the slow, unnecessary scenes filling up time. It feels as if they were offered a six-episode story, then realised they didn't know what to do with the format. A wasted opportunity.

Other shows have excelled with this format. For Torchwood, after some pretty average seasons, they produced the brilliant six-parter Children of Earth. Even the most recent mediocre Doctor Who got much better with the six-parter Flux.

I mention sci-fi series here because one of the curious things about this season is how it almost ventured into science fiction (DNA manipulation/fabrication?). But Doctor Who is also a good example on how to do an anniversary: a story that is larger than life, with many classic characters returning to contribute to the plot. In the case of SW, that could have been an unusually complex case that requires the help of Sam Ryan, Clarissa, Tom, etc. Or a copycat killer reproducing crimes previously dealt with at the Lyell, having some kind of obsession with the institute's history. Or something like that.

None of this materialised here. We got a typical SW story (and we've seen more gripping ones) stretched across six episodes, slowed down, interspersed with other cases and subplots that just didn't fit together. Plus, it seems like Simone is leaving the show as well, after only a few cases, right after the previous guy (name?), who left after two stories?

I don't know, it was nice seeing the characters back onscreen again, but they need to either revert to traditional, conservative SW storytelling or really work harder when trying new formats.

Watched all series 25 it's story line was good (accept yet again writers had to make Nikki suffer ) the characters were good and at times it had you on the edge of seat, Jack and Nikkis "love" life disappointingly wishy washy ( script writers) it's like they are an old married couple there doesn't seem to be any passion there but hey they seem comfortable with each other which is better than making them fall apart or Finnish with each other however fifty shades it ain't.

This is such a shame - in the early days with Sam it was enjoyable, different and stuck to "the facts". Now it has clearly run out of ideas, characters are very thin and so may implausible plotlines. Home Secretary killed so no national investigation, police able to keep up with the Jubilee Line by car across central London, Nikki and Jack's relationship with zero chemistry, and Jack saving the policeman from being shot by appearing out of thin air (he seems to be carrying a bit of a paunch these days). I agree with other reviewers - if this is to carry on it needs a complete revamp with new characters and writers.

I'm finding that The new Series Albeit this is the final part has Dragged Somewhat with new Storylines not living up to expectations,My god they had enough down time with COVID etc and delays to get series 25 in the bag and Perfect but I think they overall failed miserably.

Hmmmm Series 26 (if there is one) needs to be really thought out and maybe go back to basics with the writing. Only time will tell.

Oh and For Jack supposedly being Able to handle himself with his earlier episodes MMA background I found it hilarious he was easily overcome by an overweight Lorry Driver🙈 Come on Writers get your act together!!