Silent Witness star Emilia Fox has paid tribute to the show's creator Nigel McCrery, who has died aged 71.
McCrery, who also created the cop show New Tricks, originally worked with the murder squad in the Nottinghamshire Police Force before joining the BBC as part of a graduate course. He created Silent Witness in 1996 which originally starred Amanda Burton before Emilia Fox became its lead. Emilia paid tribute to his creation and spoke warmly about how "hugely fond" of him she was personally.
She wrote on X: "I am so sorry to hear the terribly sad news about the passing of Nigel McCrery. In creating Silent Witness he brought something special to so many audiences around the world, and to those of us lucky enough to work on the show. Its success and longevity are testament to Nigel and his brilliant idea in the first place — and of course many other shows too. I was hugely fond of him personally.
"He was always kind and warm and spoke devotedly of his own family as an extremely proud parent and grandparent. I am grateful that he remained connected to the show ongoingly and always wanted to know what plans there were for it.
"His great friend the forensic pathologist Helen Whitwell, who inspired the Sam Ryan character played by Amanda Burton, also sadly passed away recently. They will both live on through Silent Witness and we will do our best to make them proud. He will be missed by so many and my thoughts are with his family.”
Nigel’s other big show New Tricks, which he co-created with Roy Mitchell, was also a huge success for the BBC. Running from 2003 to 2015, it starred Amanda Redman, James Bolam, Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman. He also wrote a series of six novels about a cop called DCI Mark Lapslie, starting with "Core of Evil".
Director of BBC Drama, Lindsay Salt, said: "We are deeply saddened to hear of Nigel McCrery's death, and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. Nigel was behind some of UK television's most loved dramas, and his skill for creating brilliant stories with beautifully drawn characters shone for all to see. The enduring success of Silent Witness, still entertaining millions of viewers after almost 30 years, is a testament to his incredible talent and he will be sorely missed."
You can watch the most recent series of Silent Witness, Silent Witness season 28, on BBC iPlayer now. New Tricks is also available on iPlayer.
