@eddiebinge reviews: Silent Witness (2004) TV
Eddie plays: Derek Poutney in S08E08 “Body 21: Part 2″ (IMDb link)
We’d never seen Silent Witness before so diving in at the end of the eighth series for Eddie should have been confusing. Luckily for us, the format of this two-parter focused on the case rather than its investigators, making it easy to follow without knowing the characters.
The focus of these episodes is the aftermath of a horrendous train crash. All passengers on board are accounted for, survivors or not, apart from one — this unknown person is dubbed “Body 21″. IMDb erroneously credits Eddie as appearing in both parts (he’s only in part two) so while the first episode unfolded and he hadn’t yet appeared, we assumed he’d be the unknown body. As Body 21′s charred corpse was laid out in the morgue, their skull rotated and mapped by a 3D scanner and a facial reconstruction created, we joked that Eddie was doing a brilliant job of playing such a demanding role.
When the first episode’s credits rolled without Eddie listed we were even more convinced he’d be Body 21 and expected him to appear in a flashback. Then, out of the blue, investigator Nikki (played by the lovely Emilia Fox) visits a psychic medium, Derek, to see if he feels any spiritual connection to a piece of metal found inside Body 21 — Eddie is that medium! Derek’s part in the plot is tiny, and (like all mediums) he’s a fraud. He’s unhelpful and had too little screen-time for us to form much of an opinion of him.
Normally we’d have been annoyed if we’d watched two hours of something for a minute of Eddie but we found ourselves completely absorbed by the plot. The case was interesting and investigated more than just remains and DNA; it looked at the psychological affect of surviving trauma and dealt with sensitive subjects such as suicide, burn survival and gender identity with wonderful tenderness. Eddie’s cameo is so small it’s not worth watching just for him but if you’re in the mood for a clever piece of forensic television we’d recommend these episodes of Silent Witness.
Favourite moment:
Derek having his arse handed to him by Nikki when she outs him as a liar and orders him to get the hell out of the forensic room.
Cuteometer rating: [7]
As a fraudulent medium who lied to investigators and gave false hope to grieving families, we have to put Derek on the bad end of the scale. He wasn’t particularly creepy but concocting all that rubbish for money is just not on.
Bingo score: [0/9]
Nothing!
Our rating: ★ ★ ★
Where to watch: Amazon (DVD) | BBC Store