Will there be another season of Silent Witness and is Emilia Fox leaving the BBC drama before its 30th anniversary?

Will there be another season of Silent Witness and is Emilia Fox leaving the show? You might be wondering as season 28 draws to an emotional close.

January might mean bleak weather and dark days but it also traditionally marks the start of a new season of Silent Witness and that’s enough to lift the spirits of any crime drama fan. This year’s series has been especially gripping, giving us a brilliant mix of thought-provoking storylines and personal developments for our favourite characters. After getting engaged in season 27, we’ve been patiently waiting for the wedding bells to ring for Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and forensic scientist Jack Hogdson (David Caves) in Silent Witness season 28.

With only the last two episodes, I Believe In Love… Parts 1 and 2, to go we were looking forward to what lay ahead, whilst also starting to wonder about the future of the BBC drama as Nikki was given an enticing offer. Here we reveal whether there’ll be another season of Silent Witness and if Emilia Fox is leaving the show after the season 28 finale…

*Warning: Spoilers for I Believe In Love Parts 1 and 2 Ahead*

Will there be another season of Silent Witness and is Emilia Fox leaving?

It’s a natural fear when a finale airs that a much-loved show won’t return to our screens, but thankfully Silent Witness isn’t ending and there will be another season. As reported by RadioTimes.com, the BBC confirmed in January that Silent Witness season 29 will be happening. This news will be met with relief and excitement from fans, especially as 2026 will mark the 30th anniversary of Silent Witness and no-one would want to miss that! It’s not known when it will be released but if it follows the pattern of previous seasons, it could air in January next year.

The announcement that Silent Witness will be getting another season is only one part of the great news associated with the show, though. Emilia Fox and David Caves are both said to be returning in Silent Witness season 29, which is expected to show them balancing life as newlyweds (yes, Nikki and Jack did tie the knot in the season 28 finale) with the varied and intense demands of their work. Emilia Fox has played Nikki Alexander since 2004 and the determined pathologist has given us a few scares over the years - including in the latest series which left us briefly wondering if Nikki dies in Silent Witness.

However, an unexpected twist in the Silent Witness season 28 finale looked like it could take Nikki away from the Lyell Centre for a very different reason. From the moment Nikki arrives in the office in I Believe In Love… Part 1 it was clear that she was keeping something close to her chest after a meeting at the Home Office.

When Jack, who, after all, is her fiancé and the person she trusts the most, asks her about it later she tells him that she doesn’t want to discuss it at work. This understandably piqued his interest - and that of fans’ - even more, especially after Lyell Centre boss Harriet Maven knowingly tells Nikki that she’s "not the only one who speaks to the Home Office" and that working with her has "meant more" than she thinks the pathologist can imagine.

At home that night Nikki finally unburdens herself to Jack and explains that she was being sounded out about setting up a new forensic centre of excellence. The forensic scientist questions whether they were interested in focusing on just pathology or science and pathology, wondering if his partner wanted to be "excellent all on [her] own".

Dr Alexander reveals that they also asked about Jack, how well she knew him and whether he could be persuaded to get on board with the new centre too. His response was keen even after she added that the centre would be based at The Bowman Laboratory at Birmingham General Hospital, meaning they’d have to relocate from London.

The only catch was the Home Office’s requirement: that Nikki would take the job at the expense of Harriet’s job as she would be forced to retire. This was a no-go for the pathologist who made her loyalty to her team clear.

"I would love to make it work, I really would. But I can’t. I’m sorry. We’re a team and a very good team. Why would you want to break that up? I’ll only do it if Harriet Maven is in charge," she said.

We never saw them give her an answer but we suspect that they accepted Nikki’s terms as both Harriet and crime analyst Kit Brooks received an email in the closing stages of I Believe In Love… Part 2. As Nikki and Jack walked down the steps after their wedding, their colleagues received an email alert regarding the Sir William Bowman Centre of Excellence in Birmingham.

Harriet said, "Well I think you’re excellent, Kit," and the analyst replied, "I think you’re excellent", before the Lyell Centre boss added, "What are we going to do?"

It’s up in the air whether Harriet and Kit will return for Silent Witness season 29. A lot of the time departing characters aren’t given a specific exit storyline, like when Velvy and Gabriel’s absence in season 28 was explained via dialogue. At least it seems like the door is open should actors Maggie Steed and Francesca Mills want to come back as their characters have been invited to join the centre in Birmingham.

Either way, it will be exciting to see how the show might change if Nikki and Jack move to Birmingham and Silent Witness’s production has moved to the West Midlands already, so making the location part of the show would make sense.

All episodes of Silent Witness are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.