I'll tell you something for nothing, this was hard going.
I miss Nikki, I miss Jack, and I'm fully aware that Jack doesn't come until much, much later. I started watching Silent Witness from series 27 up, so only the last few, which is what spawned the idea to go back and start from the beginning as I've been enjoying a few older crime shows like CSI, Wire in the Blood, and NYPD Blue.
But Silent Witness was a bit much, or at least the first few were with the child drowning. Then there was a sex cult, but the finale was the one that stuck out to me with the arranged marriage murder. That was when I decided that this show was actually alright, even if the lady cop did die. But throughout the entire series we were dealing with themes like dementia, domestic abuse, culture issues, blackmail. This was 30 odd years ago and we've got the same problems just more frequent. It's interesting to see how the BBC addressed these issues decades ago and how the characters faced those problems compared to now. Back then it seems a brutal approach was more accepted unlike now, but I do like Sam's empathy toward each situation plus the fact we see into her personal life and link to the IRA.
Aside from the fact each episode was a bit drawn out and sexually explicit which threw me out a bit, they were alright despite being out of date. The fact that all of the characters seemed to be at odds with each other was interesting. Sam seemed to be an outcast and her and the Scots policeman came to blows a lot, but not nearly as much as he came to blows with literally anyone else. He was a bit insufferable to be honest, I felt like I was watching an old episode of Eastenders every time he was on screen.
Some of the acting was a bit forced and laughable as well, to be honest only the Ryan family and their drama seemed to strike me as believable. Otherwise, every time we went back to a case I felt like I was watching a school drama. But I'll stick it out.
Unfortunately, this is an incomplete review as for some reason BBC Iplayer doesn't have one of the stories and I don't know why, so that's a bit pants, but this will do for now.
Overall I'm awarding the very first series of Silent Witness a 5/10. Not quite as gripping as other shows from this era, but it was passable all the same. I'm looking forward to delving into 'classic' TV now I'm working with myself, but of course I will try to keep up with newer stuff too!
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