Silent Witness filming locations: Explore the settings of the BBC drama
The long-running forensic crime drama is back for its 24th series.
BBC One's long-running forensic drama Silent Witness has almost reached the end of its 24th series – and the penultimate episode ends on a huge cliffhanger.
Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Jack Hodgson (David Caves) returned at the beginning of the series, solving dark and spooky cases that include the latest: a murder at a care home.
It's also been a very dramatic series so far – with newcomer Adam Yeun (played by Strangers star Jason Wong) having been brutally killed off, and another new face joining this week in the shape of Simone Tyler (Genesis Lynea).
One thing that doesn't change is the team's base, Lyell Centre, but over the course of the season, the show makes use of several different locations as our team investigate a variety of cases.
Interestingly, Emilia Fox recently revealed that the locations used for this series were chosen specifically to make it easier to film under pandemic restrictions – with storylines changing to make this possible.
"The storylines had to adapt as we were filming under COVID restrictions," she said. "The writers tackled this by containing us in certain locations, as we couldn’t do as much filming around London."
Read on for everything you need to know about the locations that were used during this series.
Where is the Lyell Centre filmed?
The Lyell Centre is located in a warehouse at BBC Park Western in Acton, where a permanent set was built eight years ago.
This is now official Silent Witness HQ with the art and props departments based in the building and ready to provide fake blood and cadavers on demand.
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Where was the care home filmed?
The care home (where a key murder takes place in Matters of Life and Death) was filmed using various locations: the exterior was Briggens Park Hotel, Ware, while the interior was filmed at Harefield Grove, Uxbridge.
Meanwhile the Halloween party that Nikki and Ollie attend was filmed at Brunel University, Uxbridge.
Where was Michelle Lafferty's boxing club filmed?
Foley's Boxing Gym in the Surrey town of Addlestone was used for both the exterior and interior of Michelle Lafferty's gym during the episode. Meanwhile, Ben's first legitimate boxing fight was filmed inside Greystone’s Boxing Venue, also in Addlestone, with the aftermath shot in the Boxing Bar at the same venue.
Episode seven also includes a scene between Nikki and newcomer Simone inside the Natural History Museum.
Where were the hospital scenes filmed?
Much of the third doubleheader Reputations takes place inside a hospital called St Jude's – although no such hospital actually exists. Instead, these scenes were shot at Hemel Hempstead General Hospital, just outside of London.
Other scenes in these episodes take place in the Cowley Institute – filmed at the Mistral Building in Reading.
Where was the beach scene filmed?
In the second part of the second doubleheader Bad Love, Jack Hodgson was forced to plunge deep into water in order to stop a suspect from drowning himself. The beach where this scene was filmed is located at the National Trust property Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters.
Meanwhile, the swimming pool scene at the start of the double-header was at Charing Cross Sports Club in Hammersmith.
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Where is the high-security prison filmed?
The first double-header of series 24 centres around a case at a high-security prison, where Nikki and Jack are called after an inmate dies during a prison riot.
In the show, the prison is called Hayworth Prison, which is not the name of a real UK prison (although could be a little nod to The Shawshank Redemption, in which a prisoner escapes his cell with help from a poster of Rita Hayworth).
Parts of the episode were shot at the now-defunct Gloucester Prison on Barrack Square, with filming having taken place there in October 2020. The prison, which closed in 2013, is now used as a tourist attraction. Meanwhile, the prison's interior scenes were shot at Former HMP Holloway on Parkhurst Road in London.
Silent Witness series 24 concludes on Tuesday 5th October 2021 at 9pm on BBC One. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or visit our Drama hub for all the latest news and features.
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