The BEST episodes of Silent Witness

Every episode of Silent Witness ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Silent Witness!

Forensic pathologists face personal and professional challenges in a moody, tense thriller that moves from the crime scene to the lab.

Last Updated: 7/23/2025Network: BBC OneStatus: Continuing
Coup de Grace (2)
star
8.31
194 votes

#1 - Coup de Grace (2)

Season 17 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/10/2014

Thomas and Jack's worst fears are realised when Nikki and lawyer Greg Walker are held hostage by Bennetto in a dangerous armed siege.

Directors: David Richards
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
In a Lonely Place (2)
star
8.27
200 votes

#2 - In a Lonely Place (2)

Season 17 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/17/2014

Nikki, Jack and DS Ross find themselves under pressure to urgently close the net on a serial killer abducting young women.

Directors: Craig Viveiros
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Bloodlines (2)
star
8.21
166 votes

#3 - Bloodlines (2)

Season 14 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/25/2011

With Harry dead and Leo and Nikki getting nowhere with the police, the pathologists struggle to clear Harry's name, while the police seem intent on covering up a wider conspiracy.

Directors: Dudi Appleton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Bloodlines (1)
star
8.19
171 votes

#4 - Bloodlines (1)

Season 14 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/24/2011

When human rights lawyer Anna Sandor calls Harry to Budapest to investigate the death of a client, they start to uncover a sinister underworld conspiracy, putting both their lives in danger.

Directors: Dudi Appleton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Greater Love (2)
star
8.14
136 votes

#5 - Greater Love (2)

Season 16 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/8/2013

Leo develops a life-changing relationship with a charity worker as Nikki and Jack make a forensic breakthrough on their case in Afghanistan.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
And Then I Fell in Love (2)
star
8.13
122 votes

#6 - And Then I Fell in Love (2)

Season 15 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/20/2012

Harry and Nikki make a crucial connection between the dead girls and sex-grooming victim Shannon, but is it too late for Hannah and Lauren?

Directors: Keith Boak
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Greater Good (2)
star
8.07
149 votes

#7 - The Greater Good (2)

Season 23 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/5/2020

Jack is rushed to hospital after collapsing at the scene of a car crash. Thomas discovers that soldier John Sealy may have been exposed to a nerve agent.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Fraternity (2)
star
8.01
166 votes

#8 - Fraternity (2)

Season 17 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/31/2014

Jack's loyalties to his brother and the team are torn when Hannah is found dead, forcing him into a dangerous solo quest for the truth.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Shadows (2)
star
8.00
160 votes

#9 - Shadows (2)

Season 13 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/29/2010

Leo's postmortem of the victims reveals there were two guns used, and possibly a second shooter.

Directors: Farren Blackburn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
King’s Cross (2)
star
7.98
96 votes

#10 - King’s Cross (2)

Season 27 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/13/2024

There are further twists ahead for Nikki, Jack and the team as they work with the police to explore multiple avenues to solve a 20-year-old case.

Directors: Toby Frow
Writer: Ed Whitmore
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Exodus 20:17 (2)
star
7.92
90 votes

#11 - Exodus 20:17 (2)

Season 28 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/7/2025

Benjamin continues his desperate search for Gloria. Nikki’s disturbing discovery joins the dots. A new team member joins the Lyell.

Directors: Tracey Rooney
Watch Now:Amazon
Two Below Zero (1)
star
7.92
152 votes

#12 - Two Below Zero (1)

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/12/2001

Sam is called in to identify the naked body of a woman uncovered on a ski slope in Norway.

Directors: Rob Evans
Writer: Tom Needham
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
King’s Cross (1)
star
7.88
99 votes

#13 - King’s Cross (1)

Season 27 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/12/2024

The Lyell are called to King's Cross Station Museum, where they discover the bodies of eight victims entombed below. With the knowledge that a prolific serial killer was operating in London nearly 20 years ago, Nikki and the team know this will be a case like no other.

Directors: Toby Frow
Writer: Ed Whitmore
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Shadows (1)
star
7.86
170 votes

#14 - Shadows (1)

Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/28/2010

Nikki and Harry try to help wounded victims of a campus shooting while trapped in the building with the rampaging shooter.

Directors: Farren Blackburn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Legacy (2)
star
7.86
166 votes

#15 - Legacy (2)

Season 16 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/1/2013

Conflict brews between Leo and Nikki when he suspects her new boyfriend is involved in a 50-year cover-up, leaving Leo battling alone to expose the truth.

Directors: David Richards
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Broken (1)
star
7.86
81 votes

#16 - Broken (1)

Season 28 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/20/2025

Dismembered body parts take Nikki into the crumbling world of criminal justice. Can the Lyell team find a missing barrister before it’s too late?

Watch Now:Amazon
Peripheral Vision (2)
star
7.86
132 votes

#17 - Peripheral Vision (2)

Season 11 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/25/2007

Having fallen out with both the police and Clara's family, Nikki finds herself increasingly alone in her search for the killer.

Directors: Bruce Goodison
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Family (2)
star
7.86
208 votes

#18 - Family (2)

Season 21 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/7/2018

With the conclusion of a challenging Christmas, the team are reunited with their families. Nikki learns that her colleagues have bought her a present.

Directors: Colin Teague
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Trust (2)
star
7.86
193 votes

#19 - Trust (2)

Season 16 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/18/2013

As the basement women case highlights two cooperating killers, Nikki, Jack and DI Reed realise one victim was killed by a controlled sedative.

Directors: Richard Clark
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Double Dare (2)
star
7.86
140 votes

#20 - Double Dare (2)

Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/18/2007

Nikki grows increasingly worried that a mistake she made on a case four years ago may have contributed to the murder of a young woman.

Directors: Maurice Phillips
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Body of Work (2)
star
7.85
210 votes

#21 - A Body of Work (2)

Season 10 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/31/2006

Leo is puzzled by the strange death of conceptual artist Jimmy Triangle.

Directors: Martyn Friend
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
History (5)
star
7.85
130 votes

#22 - History (5)

Season 25 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/6/2022

The death of an investigative journalist throws the spotlight on to Sam Ryan. Nikki begins to realise that the implications of her discoveries will challenge the principles of forensic science.

Directors: Rob Evans
Writer: Alyn Farrow
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Reputations (2)
star
7.84
135 votes

#23 - Reputations (2)

Season 24 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/21/2021

With their suspect in a coma and an attacker seemingly at large in the hospital, Nikki calls on Adam’s expertise to help solve the case.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Homecoming (2)
star
7.84
88 votes

#24 - Homecoming (2)

Season 28 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/14/2025

After another hammer attack, the Lyell team start uncovering connections to a conspiracy involving local government.

Directors: Toby Frow
Writer: Ed Whitmore
Watch Now:Amazon
Body 21 (2)
star
7.84
250 votes

#25 - Body 21 (2)

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/27/2004

Leo, Harry and Nikki step up their efforts to discover the truth behind the train crash but there are still many unanswered questions.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV