Silent Witness has been a firm favourite of the British small screen for decades, but the cast has changed massively since it first aired back in 1996
The new season of Silent Witness is gripping Brits up and down the country, but those with longer memories might remember the days when it looked pretty different. For many years it was not Emilia Fox and her crew heading up the show, but an entirely different set of actors altogether.
First airing on the small screen back in 1996, much of the original cast have been pretty busy to say the least since they said goodbye to the popular BBC crime drama.
The Mirror takes a look at what the original cast of the hit crime drama have been up to since they left Silent Witness behind.
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Amanda Burton – Sam Ryan
When Northern Irish actress Amanda Burton, 69, first took on the role of Sam Ryan – the original protagonist in Silent Witness – it marked a huge departure from how the public knew her. She had shot to fame in Brookside and Peak Practice, but the crime drama that saw her play the forensic pathologist, a character she dubbed a “dark person” in an interview with the Radio Times back in 1996, she faced a series of new challenges as an actor, including intense sex scenes.
She admitted at the time that making the show was “challenging in the true sense,” because of its lower-end budgets, long hours, and the dark nature of the material. Whilst she starred as Sam Ryan for eight seasons between 1996 and 2004, she also took on roles in Little Bird, Forgotten, and Pollyanna.
At the same time as leaving the show in 2004, she and her husband, Sven Arnstein sadly divorced, after being married since 1989. She has since starred in The Commander, Waterloo Road, and the ITV Drama Marcella – as well as a limited series Anne Boleyn.
She reprised her role of Sam Ryan in the 25th anniversary series of Silent Witness in a special six-part storyline.
William Armstong – Trevor Stewart
Canadian-born actor William Armstrong, 71, played Trevor Stewart between 1996 and 1998. Trevor was Sam Ryan’s business partner and colleague and when she decided to move to London to become a professor, his character remained in Cambridge with wife Janet.
William has kept his head down when it comes to his personal life since leaving the show – but his career is littered with successes.
He has starred in major Hollywood blockbusters like A Dark Knight and La Vie En Rose. He’s also appeared in many staples of British television, including Foyles War, Doctors, New Tricks, Casualty, Holby City, and Taggart – just to name a few.
Sam Parks – Fred Dale
Sam Parks played a crucial, but quiet role in the original seasons of Silent Witness. As Fred Dale, he was the main assistant to protagonist Sam Ryan.
However his character Fred never spoke in the show, so he definitely counted as a silent witness to the autopsies then.
Since leaving the show at the end of its third season took on small roles in Les Misérables, Last Night in Soho, Ammonite, and the Netflix drama Black Dove.
Ruth McCabe – Wyn Ryan
Irish actress Ruth McCabe starred as Wyn Ryan between 1996 and 1998 – the role of the protagonist Sam’s older sister.
The award-winning actress has been working consistently since leaving her days in Silent Witness behind, including roles in Philomena and Victoria and Abdul, as well as Any Time Now, and famously Ma Braden in Breakfast on Pluto.
Ruth Gemmel – Kerry Cox
Ruth Gemmel, 58, took on the role of Kerry Cox, a trainee police officer in the first series of Silent Witness, before her character was unceremoniously killed off.
Kerry had an affair with a senior officer in the show – DI Tom Adams – before dying in a freak accident in the basement of a hospital. Ruth did return to the show though, later taking on an entirely different role, Ellie Brooke, in season 17.
Ruth is now starring as the Bridgerton matriarch – Lady Violet – in the smash hit regency romance for Netflix. She’s also appeared in many UK classics like Casualty, Midsomer Murders, and Doctors.
She also took on roles in Fever Pitch and Penny Dreadful. She was previously married to fellow actor Ray Stevenson from 1997 until 2005, when they sadly split. In 2015, she remarried to on old pal, but she has kept quiet about their identity.
Matthew Steer – Ricky Ryan
Matthew Steer, 47, played Ricky Ryan in the original cast of Silent Witness for eight episodes.
Sam’s nephew, and Wyn’s son he played a big part in the first season – a rebellious teen known to regularly push back against his mum.
More recently, Matthew has appeared in a critically acclaimed staging of Hamlet by the National Theatre as well as taking on screen roles in Becoming Elizabeth, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One, Showtrial, and The Duke – amongst many more.
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