Silent Witness Season 29: UK Premiere Date Announced
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Last Updated on January 21, 2026 by Stefanie Hutson
Silent Witness moves to Birmingham for Season 29, with first-look images and a refreshed setting highlighting what’s new before the show’s February return. The Lyell team is now based at the Sir William Bowman Centre of Excellence, with stories designed to make use of the city’s locations and forensic facilities.
What is Silent Witness?
The long-running BBC forensic drama follows Dr Nikki Alexander and her colleagues as they apply science and careful observation to complex cases. For the new season, production and story relocate to Birmingham, with the first images showing the team in their new environment at the Sir William Bowman Centre. The run consists of five stories told across ten episodes.
Who’s in the cast?
Emilia Fox returns as Dr Nikki Alexander, with David Caves as Jack. Maggie Steed appears as Harriet and Francesca Mills as Kit. Guest stars across the new run include Lydia Wilson (Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue), Chris Reilly (Slow Horses), Ben Batt (Riot Women), Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point), Selin Hizli (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Gerard Kearns (Waiting for the Out), Adam Rayner (Superman & Lois), Phaldut Sharma (EastEnders), Dino Fetscher (Fool Me Once), Cat Simmons (The Bill, Family Affairs), Chris Coghill (Slow Horses), and Mollie Winnard (All Creatures Great and Small).
Silent Witness: A Look Back
Across nearly three decades, Silent Witness has reinvented its core team several times. The show began with Amanda Burton as Dr. Sam Ryan, who led Seasons 1–8 and later returned for the 25th-anniversary run before departing again. Emilia Fox’s Dr. Nikki Alexander joined in Season 8 and remains the series’ anchor, with Tom Ward’s Dr. Harry Cunningham and William Gaminara’s Professor Leo Dalton shaping the middle years until Harry’s exit and Leo’s on-screen death.
David Caves arrived in Season 16 as Jack Hodgson, while Liz Carr’s Clarissa Mullery became a fan-favorite lab expert before leaving in Season 23. Richard Lintern’s Thomas Chamberlain succeeded Leo as head of the Lyell Centre and was later killed off, marking another major reset. Recent seasons introduced Maggie Steed as Harriet and Francesca Mills as Kit, and Season 28 closed a long personal arc with Nikki and Jack marrying, setting the stage for the Birmingham chapter.
With 29 seasons completed and a 30th in the works, it shows no signs of slowing down – so we're sure there will be plenty more changes ahead.
Behind the scenes
Season 29 is produced by BBC Studios Drama. Executive producers are Suzi McIntosh for BBC Studios, Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC, and Emilia Fox, with Seán Gleeson as producer.
When and where to watch
The UK premiere is set for Monday 2 February 2026. Episodes air on BBC One on Mondays and Tuesdays, with full two-part stories available on BBC iPlayer each week. UK viewers can expect five two-part stories across ten episodes.
In the US, we would expect to see season 29 on BritBox at some point, but we've yet to see official confirmation, so stay tuned for more details (or join our email list HERE to get regular, US-specific British TV updates). In the meantime you can catch up on the previous 28 seasons HERE.
