Silent Witness's Emilia Fox teases new dynamics: 'Everything changes again'

With new characters also naturally come some changing dynamics, especially for Jack and Nikki, who are already navigating a new engagement.

Chatting to RadioTimes.com and other press about the new dynamics at the Lyell Centre this season, Fox said: "We’ve been so lucky with our different evolutions and have always had a great time.

"The dynamics between us as actors but the characters changes the feel of it each time.

"It’s just been a delight for us having Maggie and Francesca join us. So, everything changes within the Lyell team again, and the relationship that you two [David Caves’s Jack Hodgson and Maggie Steed’s Harriet Maven] have, which is sparky from the very beginning, and trying to work out who’s going to be leading whom at the Lyell Centre."

She continued: "For Nicky, having another woman in there – you feel the respect that they have for each other. The joy in being able to play off each other, and also, for me, when I’m doing the post-mortems by myself, it’s so lovely to be able to have someone to talk to in the post-mortems and to learn from as a character.

"Then Fran comes in as Kit and she’s dynamite, isn’t she? The spark and the play.

"We’ve just had an amazing time, we’re so lucky that Maggie and Fran are with us, and it’s changed it again, as I say – we’ve loved our different evolutions, and this has been a joy."

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Steed also revealed more about her new character, saying: "I’m one of the new additions, I’m Professor Harriet Maven and I’m the new head honcho, as they say. It’s great. Well, I think it’s great.

"She’s sort of come out of retirement in a way, and she’s quite a bright girl. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly, she’s very, very admiring and tenaciously protective of these two [Nikki and Jack], and they sort of need it in a way because they’re always going out on a limb.

"All of that is a very nice dynamic to have in the show, do you know what I mean? It gives it a very human face behind the work. This is such a popular, long-lasting show – it’s amazing.

"It is the seriousness with which it is conducted and the devotion to accuracy. It’s just wonderful to behold. It has a very special atmosphere."

The new season kicks off the new year in its usual slot, which fans have come to get excited about over the years. And the premiere episode is set to be another suitably dramatic one as the team investigate the suspected murder of an elderly woman.

As per the synopsis for the season 28 premiere episode: "The death of an elderly woman found in a cave has the Lyell team asking what drives a person to murder someone so vulnerable. A new boss at the Lyell riles Jack."

Silent Witness season 28 will begin airing on Monday 6th January 2025 at 9pm on BBC One, with the second episode set to air on Tuesday 7th January at 9pm.

All 27 seasons of Silent Witness are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

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