Silent Witness (TV Series) Seven Times: Part 1 (2020) User Reviews

Bleak, but hard hitting.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 22 January 2020]

A woman's body is found on a railway line, perhaps suicide, but a suspicious gin bottle makes Clarissa think it may have been something more serious.

I'm not sure I enjoyed this one half as much as last week's, there's grim with real life grit, and then there's out and our bleak, this was close to the latter. Nikki once again dressed as a great grandmother provided reassurance.

It's relevant for 2020 in that it showed that domestic abuse isn't just about men hitting women, the reality is very different.

Sian Reese Williams was excellent I thought, am a big fan of hers.

Overall it was a good, but tough watch, to be totally honest, this is going to be tough for some to watch. Some moments of humour would have been beneficial, and lifted the spirits a bit, distressing, but a good watch. 7/10

Relevant but predictable

[retina_scan · 7/10 · 22 February 2022]

Here is another episode on identity politics and current issues such as the #metoo movement, but unfortunately such an important topic is not dealt with in a very original and engaging manner. The pacing is quite slow, it becomes quite predictable and it is full of cliches. There are countless films and TV episodes that engage with this topic in a more subtle and powerful manner.

It just felt as if first they decided what the episode would be about, what hte social issue in question would be and then they wrote a crime story around it. It should be a finer balance between great storytelling and engagement with social issues.

The 'Domestic Abuse is Really Bad' Episode.

[jaktrancer · 1/10 · 24 January 2020]

The 'Domestic Abuse is Really Bad' Episode.

I'm beginning to wonder why I ever liked this series. Has it got worse or have I become more critical? As the previous reviewer noted, the box ticking was so blatant in this double episode it was laughable. Nikki and Jack arrive on the scene. Apparently it's a very accessible bit of electrified rail in the middle of a housing estate. A body has tripped the power out - lucky that. In typical SW coincidence - it delays the train Thomas is waiting for. He's on his way to meet someone who will also, later on, have yet another coincidental connection with the case. Out on the street and down at the track, the SOCO extras haven't been given much to do - just make notes and carry little cases until the Lyall experts arrive. Cue this week's quirky copy character - a bald cockney bit of a lad in a colourful shirt and a wheelchair - coming from the opposite direction to everyone else. (Let's not ask how they got his wheelchair down the steep embankment). We're never told how the angel of vengeance actually managed to get the body there unseen - ah well. Anyway, the episode digs deep into its worthy subject of domestic abuse... a little too deep, because in this episode, virtually every character has been affected by it. The audience is then abused - battered and bludgeoned by the writers who think we might have missed something. You can imagine the production meeting and someone saying 'can we crowbar in a gay couple? We want the audience to know we realize this abuse can happen in all flavours of relationships'. The audience battering continues with Nikki's flashbacks. After the third one you think 'okay, we got it... Nikki is letting her past experiences affect her judgement'. But it doesn't stop there... she gazes off into the middle distance about ten times in all, as we're treated to more and more over saturated shots of her traumatic childhood. I'll put aside the contrived way the Lyall team are involved in far more of the process than they should be... that's been going on for quite a while now and I guess we're supposed to be blind to it. I hope it improves. In a week that screened the absolute worst episode of Dr Who ever made ('Orphan 55' - so so bad it doesn't even warrant a review), you start to wonder where the license fee money is going. Certainly not on scriptwriters.

It gets worse

[graeme-86220 · 2/10 · 3 February 2020]

BBC storyline to educate us all in the ways of the world.

Characters who only ever have one (or two if somehow linked) bodies to deal with at any time so they can then spend hours in and out of the office solving murders that the Police can't see.

Red herrings so obvious you can almost smell them - what left-handed person actually puts a left arm out to shake hands?

Every variety of relationship has to be covered and expect the reverse of the norm to be included.

I gave up on this series long ago but the wife put it on and it's nice to know it continues downhill

I need a Skateboard!!

[neil_davison-354-77074 · 2/10 · 29 October 2021]

And just to Keep up with this Series going Downhill.

Yes I'm watching it hoping the Storylines get better but things seem to either level out or continue falling.

Nikki continues to annoy me with every episode As there's always something going on brought to light by her past. I class them as Fill in's now when the writers have nothing constructive to fill the Gaps!!

Jack I've noticed is now nowhere near involved as usual now which is a shame as I like his character. Clarissa I find always on top form in every episode no matter how bad it is same with Thomas yet I do feel he just goes through the motions nowadays.

On a Separate note Nikki you need to get the peroxide out as Brunette does not suit you.