Silent Witness gets HUGE ratings as fans love Emilia Fox’s new brunette look

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Silent Witness Emilia Fox
(Image credit: BBC/David Emery)

Viewers loved seeing Emilia Fox, David Caves, Richard Lintern and Liz Carr back on our screens

Silent Witness got monster ratings last night when the Emilia Fox hit returned for its 23rd series on BBC1.

According to Broadcast, a whopping 5.6 million fans tuned in to watch Emilia back as Dr Nikki Alexander, this time swapping her normal blonde locks for a new brunette look – something fans loved!

Doctor Who and Dracula may have had far more hype when they opened up on New Year’s Day, but neither got close to the audience who tuned in for Silent Witness.

Silent Witness maintains a hugely loyal audience and has now enjoyed over 200 episodes since it launched in 1996.

Nikki looks into a plane crash in the first episode of Silent Witness

Nikki was called to the scene of a horrific plane crash in the opening episode of Silent Witness (Image credit: BBC/Sally Mais)

And with such big viewing figures it looks like the show is here to stay. Asked if she could see the show continuing for the foreseeable future, Liz Carr, who plays Clarissa Mullery, replied: “I hope so. It gets massive audiences. If you’re going to be brutal about what TV’s about these days, the key question is, 'Does it get the audiences?' And Silent Witness gets great audiences.

“For what it’s worth, I think the BBC would be ridiculous not to at least go to 25 series. We like landmarks, don’t we? Plus audiences don’t seem to be getting bored of it. Sometimes you can see a review going,'Oh, it’s the same old…' But I think one of the things people love about it is the familiarity of it.

"It's reassuring, it’s January, it’s cold, we’re going to hunker down with a hot drink and watch something scary and feel scared. So many people say to me, 'Love it, love it when January arrives because I know Silent Witness is coming round'."

MORE: Emmerdale fans STUNNED to spot this CBeebies star in last night's episode

Silent Witness star Liz Carr as Clarissa

Silent Witness star Liz Carr as Clarissa (Image credit: BBC/David Emery)

Last night’s opening episode saw a private jet crash, with an ambassador being among the victims.

Silent Witness continues tonight on BBC1 at 9pm.

David Hollingsworth
David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!