It may have been going for seventeen years, but crime drama Silent Witness is showing no signs of failing. The new series, airing on Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One, has continued to draw in viewers and the most recent two-part story succeeded in adding 230k to its previous week’s ratings figures. The most recent episode, broadcast on Friday 17 January, achieved 5.73 million viewers, which amounted to 24.1% of viewers according to Digital Spy.
ITV, however, has not been doing as well with its primetime Friday night slot. At 9PM, Piers Mogan’s Life Stories, which featured the actor Neil Morrissey, pulled in 2.86 million.
Silent Witness has been a hit for the BBC throughout its time on air. So far 148 episodes of the show have been broadcast, with many of them succeeding in being the most-watched non-soap programme of their evening’s broadcast.
The show, when it was first broadcast in 1996, was originally a UK/US co-production, produced by both the BBC and the Arts & Entertainment Network in America. Now, however, the BBC co-produces the show with BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm, who also distributes the show on DVD.
Silent Witness continues on Thursday and Friday on BBC One and BBC One HD.
