Witness Number 3 has caught our attention with its all-star cast and intense storyline as one woman’s testimony could cost her everything.
Summer is bringing a scorching heatwave to the UK and Europe right now, but new Channel 5 drama Witness Number 3 is about to give you serious chills. Single mum Jodie thinks she’s doing the right thing when she comes forward as a significant witness in a murder enquiry. But it’s not long before she finds herself paying for her good deed when she becomes the focus of a terrifying campaign to intimidate her.
Garnering positive reviews, the series has the high stakes of ITV's Trigger Point and emotional impact of the BBC’s Chloe. From the moment the Channel 5 drama landed it was clear thriller lovers were in for an unnerving journey as the finale looms.
But what is Witness Number 3, which familiar faces are in the cast and how many episodes are there? We reveal what you need to know as the show continues…
*Warning: spoilers ahead!*
What’s Witness Number 3 on Channel 5 about?
As Channel 5 themselves put it alongside the high-octane Witness Number 3 trailer - would you risk your life to do the right thing? That is the impossible question viewers are confronted with as the new drama follows Jodie Packer as she does just that. Just like the Undeclared War ending showed sacrifices being made to prevent a serious cyber attack, Witness Number 3 shows the single mom and business owner placing herself in danger in the pursuit of justice.
Jodie balances running her hairdressing business with raising her son Kyle, but when she witnesses an altercation that ends in murder her carefully-built life could be about to break apart. After seeing an appeal for witnesses, Jodie comes forward and becomes the anonymous Witness Number 3, though with a local gang member the focus of the murder enquiry, things soon escalate.
It begins with strange text messages as a focused campaign of intimidation starts, pushing Jodie into paranoia and attempting to secure her silence. Telling the police officers that she was being targeted, the single mom is told that they would be applying for funding for measures to protect her. Though that’s little comfort for Jodie, who has been sent a live video of herself and Kyle being followed and another video of her salon being trashed.
Opening up about the new Channel 5 show to RadioTimes.com, Jodie’s actor, Nina Toussaint-White, described the show as a particularly evocative one for the audience as they put themselves in her characters’ shoes.
“"I would describe it [the series] as tense, suffocating – a voyeuristic psychological thriller,” she said. “And it forces the audience to work out what they would do. How would they do the right thing? And at what cost?"
With its emotional core and a storyline that is scarily all-too-believable, Witness Number 3 makes for a powerful and conversation-starting watch.
Who’s in the Witness Number 3 cast?
Witness Number 3 cast:
- Nina Toussaint-White as Jodie
- Cole Martin as Kyle
- Sue Johnston as Cathy
- Sion Daniel Young as P.C. Ivan Barkas
- Clare Dunn as Detective Whelan
- Ruaridh Mollica as Po
The Witness Number 3 cast is led by Bodyguard star Nina Toussaint-White who many fans might also remember for her role as Syd Chambers in EastEnders back in 2009. She plays Jodie Packer - businesswoman, single mother and conflicted witness in need of protection before it’s too late. Without Jodie, Witness Number 3 just wouldn’t be the same and Nina has recently discussed with Express.co.uk and other press the choice for the drama to be shown through her characters’ eyes.
Nina explained, "It's not about the police, it's not about the gang member. You are watching things through Jodie's eyes, I feel like the viewer becomes the character. You are in her head and you feel the paranoia that she feels and I don't think a lot of crime dramas focus on that. They focus on the crime itself."
The actor also went on to reflect on Jodie’s sense of paranoia after the gang’s intimidation tactics begin to get into her head.
"I think you are right to be suspicious about everyone,” she continued. “I think that's the point of the show, with all the threats that Jodie faces. It's like the text messages and certain things happening to her family, she's sent on this whirlwind of paranoia. As a viewer, you are meant to feel that too, you are meant to suspect. Jodie is always looking over her shoulder at strangers.”
Joining Nina in the Witness Number 3 cast is another familiar face, none other than Sue Johnston, who’s appeared in everything from Waking the Dead to Downton Abbey: A New Era. She plays Jodie’s mom Cathy, who is close to her daughter and grandson Kyle, played by newcomer Cole Martin.
Police officers P.C. Ivan Barkas and Detective Whelan are played by the talented Sion Daniel Young and Clare Dunn respectively. Whilst Ruaridh Mollica plays Po, one of the gang members attempting to terrify Jodie into silence.
How many episodes are there?
Like so many other psychological dramas in recent months, from The Secret to The Holiday on Netflix, Witness Number 3 is made up of four episodes. Each of these episodes is an hour long, packing in all the drama, emotion and heart-stopping high stakes you could want from the Channel 5 show. The series premiered on July 18th meaning that anyone who’s yet to dive into Jodie’s terrifying story still has time to catch up on all they might’ve missed so far.
How to watch Witness Number 3 where you are
For UK viewers Channel 5 is the place to head if you want to watch Witness Number 3 as it’s airing on consecutive nights on the channel at 9pm, with the finale set to be shown on Thursday, July 21st. Each episode is also being made available to watch on their on-demand service, My5, once they've aired live. So if you’re used to binge-watching your way through to the end of a series in one go, you can patiently wait until all episodes are available on My5.
Unfortunately for anyone eager not to miss out on all the intriguing moments in this tense drama, if you're abroad when Witness Number 3 airs then you won't be able to watch the show as you normally would at home, thanks to regional restrictions.
Luckily there’s an easy solution and you can use a VPN to continue watching this hit drama. This is a handy bit of software that changes your IP address so that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home.
Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. They say, “It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Express.”
So now you know what to expect from Witness Number 3 there's plenty of time to re-watch your favorite moments from the Channel 5 drama so far as what promises to be a seriously suspenseful finale draws nearer...
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