Silent Witness season 27 full season guide: plot, cast and more

Silent Witness season 27 saw Emilia Fox return as Dr Nikki Alexander and it proved to be a wonderful series, with some star guest turns from the likes of John Hannah and Neil Pearson.

Teasing the series before it aired, the BBC said that Nikki and Jack Hodgson (David Caves) face "some of their most chilling cases yet: a body found in an abandoned church sparks fears that a serial killer has resurfaced after twenty years, death terrorises a university campus and no one is safe, a mummified corpse is uncovered — seemingly forgotten by everyone, multiple bodies are found entombed beneath a train station in a makeshift mass grave, and the Lyell is infiltrated by a malevolent force".

All the talk before the series was about what would be next for Nikki and Jack, who are an item as the series began.

Talking about the first case, Emilia told us: "A body is found in a church, and the detective investigating thinks it relates back to a case from 20 years ago. Nikki meets the pathologist from the original case, who is played by John Hannah. We were so lucky to have him playing that part!" 

Teasing about what's next for Nikki and Jack, David said before the series aired: "They are going strong. A big thing last year was that we didn't want to make it a bickering adolescent type of relationship — which we could easily have done. But it is different with Jack and Nikki. We are seeing them working together, and their relationship does not seem to be interfering with their work. 

"They're professional, and they simply get on with their work. But they have moments where they check in with each other and then little subtle things that happen between them to let people know that they're still very much together. I can't really go into much detail, but there's a nice progression in this series. It comes to a nice crescendo, if you will. And so I hope people are pleased because Jack and Nikki have some lovely moments together."

Silent Witness season 27 release date

Silent Witness season 27 started on Monday, January 8, 2024, on BBC One at 9 pm. The entire series has now aired. Please note all episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.

Silent Witness season 27 cast

Emilia Fox returned as Dr Nikki Alexander, a part she's remarkably played since 2004. David Caves returned as Jack Hodges. Alastair Michael again played Velvy, with Aki Omoshaybi back as Gabriel. Plus Rhiannon May returned as Cara.

Four Weddings and a Funeral actor John Hannah guest starred in the first story alongside Josette Simon who plays DCI Ford. In the second story Kevin McNally plays a university professor, Peter Cherry, and John Thomson appears as  DCI Warren Bull.

In episode 5 Nadine Marshall returns as DI Sarah Torres, who was seen in the last series in "Familiar Faces" part two. Later in the series Julie Graham, Neil Pearson and Hermione Norris all appeared.

Plot

Nikki and Jack were in a good place at the end of the series. Jack was seen lifting Nikki up in his arms on the beach. We'd expect more hard-hitting plots but hopefully, Nikki and Jack will remain together.

Emilia says she actually makes plot charts to keep track of what’s going on in each series. "I find it really helpful. We often film out of sequence, and so you have to remember what information the character already knows during certain scenes, because otherwise — and particularly at the speed that we film — we're coming into scenes thinking 'Where are we in this story?' and 'Was that in the last script or was that here?’" 

She also revealed that the one time she goes to clothes shops is for Nikki's costumes. "I only ever go to the shops when I go costume shopping. We all have an influence on what we wear in the show. It’s a contemporary show, and certainly I've found the pathologists we have met have very particular styles of dressing. That’s part of the fun of the character, and it seems to be a part which people address on social media a lot — hairstyles and what we’re wearing."

Teasing the plots in the new series, the BBC says: "As the team use their expertise to unlock the truth, they are tested to their very limits. Gabriel seeks advice from Jack in an unexpected way, and lets down his guard at work with devastating results. Velvy tries to do the right thing by his family, but at great cost to himself. Cara navigates London student life, making friends and enemies along the way. She impresses Jack when she undertakes work experience at the Lyell, and is forced to intervene when she makes a shocking discovery about Velvy. Nikki and Jack deal with one of the most difficult cases of their career and their relationship becomes stronger than ever.

"Nikki and Jack investigate a murder bearing all the hallmarks of a notorious serial killer. When Nikki meets Charles Beck, the pathologist who conducted the original post-mortems, she discovers his wife was the suspected fifth victim of the serial killer, but nobody believes him when he claims he knows where to find her body."

What happens in episode 1?

The episode begins in 2004 with a police recording of an interview with Calvin Dunn (played by Leo Starr). We then move on in time to 2024 with a police car in High End Woods. The officer reveals they've heard reports of screams. 

We then go back to the police interview in 2004 with Dunn. He claims to have been at home looking after his children. The interviewer then asks him if he's familiar with St Margaret's Church. "It’s up by High End Woods," he replies. So we have a connection between the 2004 and 2024 scenes. 

In the present day, the police find a body in the Church. We meet DCI Jane Ford (Josette Simon), who carried out the original interview with Dunn and is convinced he's back killing again. Nikki is not so sure. Ford recalls the Dunn case saying there were four victims. They were "found strangled and placed in churches in the west London area". She adds that a fifth victim was abducted, but her body was never found. There was also a sixth attack on someone called Dominic who escaped. Dunn vanished before he could be charged. 

We meet John Hannah's character Charles Beck. His wife was apparently abducted and killed by Dunn, but her body was never found. Beck performed the post-mortem on Dunn's victims and Dunn seemingly killed Beck's wife in revenge for this as Beck was part of the publicity campaign to catch him. Beck is convinced Dunn is the modern-day killer though as he thinks he's dead. The episode ends with Beck's wife's body being found in a reservoir. Ford is convinced Beck used his knowledge of Dunn's crimes to cover the fact he killed his own wife. Nikki is not convinced.

What happens in episode 2?

The big question here is is Beck a killer? And is Dunn alive? We won't reveal exactly what happened, but our full episode 2 recap has all that detail. 

Jack has his doubts Beck is the killer. Why would he point the police to the body, he wonders. They find evidence that Dunn was on Beck's boat, which suggests he killed Beck's wife and not Beck. 

The finally ID the victim in the church. His name is Mason and he worked at some stables. The team work out that Dunn had an accomplice. Nikki heads off to see Beck to work out what really happened to his wife and Dunn. It leads to a dramatic conclusion with plenty of twists.

What happens in episode 3?

The team's investigation into a suspected suicide raises more questions than it answers. Gabriel has an exciting new opportunity, both professionally and personally, and enlists Jack's help. When a disgruntled professor of criminology is passed over for promotion, events take a sinister turn and the interview panel begins to be targeted. Could a member of the Lyell be next?

What happens in episode 4?

Events continue to spiral at the university and Cara becomes collateral damage, while the riddle of the body in the Thames is solved. A breakthrough in the Cherry case is received from an unlikely source, but will the team get there before it is too late?

What happens in episode 5?

The team investigates when the mummified corpse of a woman is found in a flat after being dead for a year. They draw on all of their forensic and pathology knowledge to find out the truth of her identity and what happened to her. Even if the world had forgotten her, the Lyell are determined that she must get justice

What happens in episode 6?

Nikki and Jack start to wonder if the latest death is linked to their original body. DI Torres searches for a stalker and Cara is shocked at Velvy's living conditions

What happens in episode 7

As the team investigates the death of a Burmese man found on an abandoned beach, his young pregnant wife desperately hopes he is still alive. Nikki and Jack find themselves in uncharted territory as they piece together the perplexing crime scene that poses more questions than it answers.

What happens in episode 8?

Nikki makes a breakthrough that leaves the team questioning who they can and can't trust. The Lyell is compromised in an unexpected way as the team strive to find the truth about the man on the beach and why he was killed. 

What happens in episode 9?

The episode sees Nikki, Jack and the team on the trail of a serial killer. It's the most shocking case yet of the series and opens at a museum next to King's Cross station. Workmen go to fix a floor but on lifting up some floorboards they discover a body.

What happens in episode 10?

Nikki continues to try and identify the last of the remaining bodies, hoping it will uncover any connections and find a motive, while Jack and the police look into several 20-year-old missing persons cases which might reveal the identity of the man dubbed "The King's Cross Serial Killer".

The series ends with Jack proposing to Nikki! And she says yes, bless. A Silent Witness wedding to open the next series?

Is there a trailer?

Yes, see above.