Does Dr Nikki Alexander die in Silent Witness?

Dr Nikki Alexander has been part of Silent Witness for 11 years and season 28 likely left some fans wondering if she was going to die.

Silent Witness is one of those shows that hasn’t shied away from killing off key characters in the past and so every time the new series of Silent Witness starts, there’s a part of fans that likely hopes nothing will befall any more of them this time around. From Thomas, to Adam and Leo, we’ve said goodbye to some brilliant characters and Dr Nikki Alexander is now the most long-standing member of the Silent Witness cast. She’s been in a few scrapes of her own over the years and in the episodes Vanishing Point Parts 1 and 2 which aired on 27th and 28th January we were once again left worried about her fate and if she would die.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*

Does Nikki Alexander die in Silent Witness?

Thankfully, Nikki hasn’t died in Silent Witness season 28 so far, though it looked for a moment like she could’ve been in trouble in episodes 7 and 8, Vanishing Point Parts 1 and 2. Typically Silent Witness takes place in and around London, with a few notable exceptions like Home Parts 1 and 2 which was set in South Africa, and this two-parter partially unfolded in the air. The pathologist was on an East-West Airlines flight from Mumbai when a passenger she’d met beforehand, Tony Jenkins, suddenly took ill. As a medical professional Nikki became embroiled in what was to turn into a nightmare for all those in the know on that flight.

Tony died horribly and used his last words to declare that he’d found a "cause" to live for. Nikki knew straight away that his death wasn’t food poisoning like cabin crew member Ade suggested and it was soon theorised that whatever killed Tony was a virus or some kind of toxin. In a contained space like an aeroplane this news likely set off alarm bells for many Silent Witness fans as Nikki had tried to save Tony when he collapsed.

Her close interactions with him seemed like they could have put her in danger, especially when another passenger Beth Tyler also started to show signs of illness, as did Berkshire Biofuels’ owner Grant Townsend. However, Nikki didn’t die aboard the plane and in Vanishing Point Part 2 it was revealed that Beth and Tony had been working together and sacrificed themselves in the pursuit of their "cause".

Both had been grief-stricken when their children were diagnosed with leukaemia and died and they had suspected that nyraxin produced as a byproduct by Grant’s factory was to blame. The businessman had dismissed their concerns and tied them up in legal paperwork, suppressing the truth. As he primarily lived outside the UK and had security with him everywhere aside from the plane, Beth and Tony had made the decision to contaminate him with nyraxin on board.

They’d asked a biochemist in Mumbai to make up nyraxin without knowing what it was and then Beth put it in a perfume bottle. She’d sprayed some on her own hand and grasped Grant’s arm in an apparently innocent way to ensure he felt the effects. This method of contamination meant that Nikki wasn’t as much at risk as it had appeared and this was a good thing too, as she did her utmost to save Beth and Grant’s lives and was in close quarters with them on the plane.

Beth wanted Grant to admit to what was killing them and thought that their dead bodies would be the evidence the authorities needed to investigate Berkshire Biofuels and prevent anyone else from being killed by the nyraxcin.

"No proof?" she scoffed at him. "This is proof! You, me and Tony. Living, dying proof."

Whilst Nikki, thanks to a little deductive help from Jack and Harriet at the Lyell, managed to help Grant by giving him a combination of eyedrops and anti-sickness tablets to slow the nyraxcin, Beth refused to drink it and died. The pathologist arrived back in the UK to reunite with a relieved Jack and since she was wearing a protective suit and had been checked, it seemed like she was completely fine.

Has Nikki almost died before in Silent Witness?

Dr Nikki Alexander didn’t die in Silent Witness Vanishing Point, but fans would be forgiven for worrying about her in light of all that happened and it’s not like she hasn’t come close to being killed before. Perhaps the most serious of all these incidents came in the Silent Witness season 20 finale, Awakening. Nikki travelled to Mexico to find out what happened to her friend Luisa Herrera, who was working alongside her but decided to be a pathologist at home. In the course of the investigation she got on the wrong side of the local cartels and was given up to them by Dr Eva Vasquez after they took her son.

Nikki was buried alive with a phone and only a limited amount of oxygen and this was the moment that probably worried Silent Witness fans the most when it came to her future on the show. Nikki worked with Jack over the phone to try and use clues to determine where she was but he ended up finding a lot of people taken by the cartel, including Luisa, instead.

Had Nikki actually been buried underground she would have died before he could find her in time - something that haunted him later - but she ended up pushing the planks of wood surrounding her and realising she wasn’t underground. The pathologist had actually been buried in a structure on the hillside and she managed to escape.

The other time where Nikki came closest to dying in Silent Witness was in season 13’s Shadows Part 1 and Part 2. She and former main character Harry Cunningham were inside a building at a university campus which was taken over by a shooter. They tried to help those who were wounded and specialist firearms officers later stormed the building and saved everyone. Nikki then returned to the Lyell where she was ominously approached by student Neil who pointed a gun at her but hadn’t wanted to go along with another student’s sinister plan.

Once again Nikki was rescued and didn’t die in Silent Witness and we all hope that she’ll see out the rest of season 28 safely and return for many more seasons to come.