Silent Witness 2022—will there be a 25th season and what can we expect?

Silent Witness 2022 will no doubt have been on every fan’s mind after that unforgettable season 24 finale, but will the hit drama return for season 25 next year? 

The BBC crime drama series has enjoyed a long-running reign on the small screen over three decades after it's compelling pilot episode back in 1996. Fast forward to the modern-day and the award-winning show continues to be one of Britain’s favourite weekly treats, offering a welcome escape from the stresses of everyday life with its intriguing plot lines and engaging characters. 

After waiting for a new season for an agonizing year, viewers were delighted to see the Silent Witness 2021 cast feature multiple familiar faces, including Emilia Fox as Dr Nikki Alexander and David Caves as forensics specialist Jack Hodgson. Déjà vu was also on the cards for fans with the unexpected references to Silent Witness Shadows, two chilling episodes from Season 13 of the investigative series.

And with its solid reputation and seemingly guaranteed slot on the TV listings, it’s no wonder fans are eager to know if there will be a Silent Witness Season 25... 

Will there be a 25th season of Silent Witness?

Fans can prepare to get seriously excited as Silent Witness will indeed be back for another gripping season in 2022. The BBC previously announced that two more seasons of the popular show had been greenlit, with the next one, Season 25, celebrating its 25th anniversary on the air. 

Piers Wegner, Controller of BBC drama, told the media in February 2020, “Silent Witness entertains audiences from all generations and continues to be one of the UK’s most successful returning crime drama series. I’m thrilled it will continue to grip the nation in 2021, and can’t wait for viewers to see what is in store for its 25th Anniversary in 2022.”  

What can we expect from Silent Witness 2022?

The storylines of Silent Witness 2022 have not yet been confirmed, but after *that* dramatic Silent Witness 2021 finale, there are already some major plot points fans will no doubt be hoping come up again in season 25. Perhaps the most dramatic of these was fans finally getting to see Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson seemingly get together. After many long series of watching and hoping, with romantic tension built up all the way, it just never seemed to happen for the pair, with Nikki instead entering a long term and very long-distance relationship with Washington DC-based Matt Garcia. 

Now, though, things seem to have changed. In the final episode of season 24, entitled Matters of Life and Death Part 2, fans saw Jack and Nikki exchange a highly-anticipated kiss in the back of a taxi.

This followed a shocking cliff-hanger to Part 1, where Nikki accepted an invitation to attend her postgraduate pathology students’ Halloween party and ended up spending the night with one of them, Ollie, who some viewers might remember from a scene in a lecture theatre in the series premiere. 

Upon waking up to discover that Jack could be in danger after receiving a call from his father Connor, duty calls for Nikki. Overnight major flooding devastated England and Jack had returned with his and Nikki’s colleague Simone Tyler to the care home they had been investigating after one of their resident's death was considered suspicious. 

Trapped overnight having got the residents to safety, Jack is greeted by a relieved Nikki who has made it through the flooding to reach them. It was following this wonderful reunion that their kiss occurs, complete with show-motion camera shots worthy of the moment, only for Jack to listen to a voicemail she’d left him the night before which featured Ollie in the background. 

Crushed by the revelation that Nikki and Ollie had slept together, Jack confronts Nikki the next day and voices concerns about her losing her job. He repeats the same concern to Ollie himself when he arrives to speak to Nikki and it’s the student who tells him that Nikki and Matt are no longer together.

The pathologist ultimately tells Ollie that things can’t progress between them, saying getting calls from work during their night of passion made her realise she needed to be somewhere else. 

“Somewhere else? Or with someone else?” he knowingly asks her. 

Though viewers sadly didn’t get to see Nikki and Jack exchange another kiss before the episode’s end, the final scene gives further hope that Silent Witness 2022 could see them together. 

Arriving home after the case is finally closed, Jack finds Nikki asleep on his sofa. Kneeling down and stroking her hair, Nikki wakes up and the pair hold hands meaningfully as the credits start to roll. 

And if that wasn’t exciting enough building up to Silent Witness season 25, it’s now been confirmed that the potential new couple of Nikki and Jack will be joined by former Lyell lead Professor Sam Ryan at some point. 

Silent Witness has announced that Amanda Burton will return to Silent Witness for the 25th anniversary season, after her character previously left the series to spend time with her family in Northern Ireland. 

“I am so excited to be returning to Silent Witness and stepping back into Sam Ryan’s shoes – with a difference!” Amanda reportedly declared. “Audiences can look forward to plenty of twists and turns as they discover what Sam’s been doing since leaving the Lyell.”

Silent Witness 2022 might not be landing on our screens for some time yet, but with the return of Sam Ryan and *that* Nikki/Jack kiss in the back of our minds, we can't wait to see what season 25 will bring.