Returning: Silent Witness

Silent Witness returns to ABC1 for Season 16 this week, introducing new characters but still taking its very austere approach to murders.

It begins with the first of a two part mystery

Joining Emilia Fox is David Caves as forensic scientist Jack Hodgson. This will also be the final season for William Gaminara as Professor Leo Dalton.

The sixteenth series of Silent Witness returns to ABC1 with the British crime-drama proving once again that every body tells a story: who they were, how they lived, and most importantly, how they died.

Over 10 episodes, Silent Witness follows a team of expert pathologists, including Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Professor Leo Dalton (William Gaminara), as they investigate suspicious deaths.

In part one of this double episode, John Briggs, a wealthy business owner, is found dead. Nikki works with forensic scientist Jack Hodgson (David Caves) to convince DI Gold it’s murder.

Leo, warned by the Home Office to rethink the Lyell Centre’s operations, helps Nikki prove Briggs died from a mysterious allergic reaction. However, as suited sharks circle to buy Briggs’s ailing company, Jack believes someone exploited this allergy to kill. Briggs’s estranged daughter Geraldine is left the company in his will, yet she’s shocked that he had tracked down her long lost daughter Deanna, and the pair make up for lost time.

But when Deanna’s body is discovered in the Thames, Nikki, Jack and DI Gold are sure the murders are linked. Leo decides how to safeguard the Lyell Centre’s future and employs Jack to launch a forensics department. As the new team is cemented, evidence from Deanna’s body provides a vital lead on the killer’s motive.

8:30pm Friday ABC1.