History Series / SilentWitness

* Brother-SisterIncest:[[spoilers: the Doshi siblings in "Squaring the Circle" and teenage siblings in "Domestic" (though in defence of the latter, they didn't realise they were blood related).]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoilers: the Doshi siblings in "Squaring the Circle" and teenage siblings in "Domestic" (though in defence of the latter, they didn't realise they were blood related).]]

* Brother-SisterIncest: [[spoilers: the Doshi siblings in "Squaring the Circle" and teenage siblings in "Domestic" (though in defence of the latter, they didn't realise they were blood related).]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Leo]]

British crime/forensic series, running from 1996 onwards, now in its seventeenth series, making it the fourth oldest currently airing crime drama in the world and the longest that isn't German (''{{Tatort}}'' is the winner, the German show having run since 1970).

* HonourBasedAbuse: One plot strand of "Sins of the Fathers" involved the team investigating a body found inside the wreckage of a Vietnamese restaurant, which was burned down after the man that the owner's daughter was betrothed to found out she wasn't a virgin.

* HonorBasedAbuse: One plot strand of "Sins of the Fathers" involved the team investigating a body found inside the wreckage of a Vietnamese restaurant, which was burned down after the man that the owner's daughter was betrothed to found out she wasn't a virgin.

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: Justified. In "Bloodlines", Harry wakes up in Budapest to notice his girlfriend has been stabbed to death in bed next to him. As he finds the murder weapon , a knife, the murderer comes walking in, causing Harry to take the knife to fend him off. The murderer, in a fit of [[GenreSavvy genre-Savviness]], simply disarms Harry and leaves him behind to be found by the Hungarian cops.

Could be considered a UK version of the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise, but lacks its flashiness (although it has elements of the wider investigating role); it also predates it. Like ''WakingTheDead'' (which predates ''Series/{{CSI}}'' as well), it is done in two-parters, with each story shown over two days.

Could be considered a UK version of the ''{{CSI}}'' franchise, but lacks its flashiness (although it has elements of the wider investigating role); it also predates it. Like ''WakingTheDead'' (which predates ''{{CSI}}'' as well), it is done in two-parters, with each story shown over two days.

* PoliceAreUseless: The forensics team ends up straying from their brief into other law enforcement roles. Typically the police get it wrong and impede the team until the last minute. When either the crim or the pathologist is cornered: here comes TheCavalry! Unlike [[{{CSI}} CSI]], these guys are really not cops period, but that doesn't stop anything.

* PleaseDontSplitUsUp: A major plot thread of the episode "Protection" is a teenage boy trying to reunite his siblings who were separated by social services, and prevent the youngest from being adopted.

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* FreudianTrio: Harry is the logical [[TheSpock Spock]], Nikki is the emotional [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] and Leo is the balancing [[TheKirk Kirk]].

* HotScientist: Nikki Alexander, played by EmiliaFox.

-->"Dear Points of View, I watched Silent Witness with the sound off and it didn't make any sense."
--->'''Frankie Boyle''' - ''MockTheWeek''

* HotScientist: Nikki Alexander, played by Emilia Fox.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Julian Glover turned up one story.

* StrawNihilist: The villains of "Lost"
* TallDarkAndHandsome (and [[TallDarkAndSnarky Snarky]]): Harry.
* TooSoon: "And Then I Fell In Love", a story planned for Season 15, was delayed as it was too close to a very-high-profile case undergoing trial involving a child sex ring in Rochdale, to the point of potentially prejudicing it. The case has now concluded, but the story had a long delay and was finally rescheduled to air several months after originally planned.

The [[Characters/SilentWitness character page]] NeedsMoreLove.