silent witness
Valuation: **
The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild
Valuation: **
love makes dr Nikki cynical. The scented pathologist from Silent Witness (BBC1) used to aching with empathy for the bodies she slices open.
But ever since an office romance swept her off her feet, our angel of the autopsy chamber has been jaded, jaded even. As she pondered the effects of falling from the roof of a 50-story skyscraper, she seemed to enjoy the math involved.
Terminal velocity multiplied by body mass meant that an ordinary man, in this case an unfortunate banker, would hit the ground with the force of a seven-ton weight.
“It’s not the fall that kills you,” she added morbidly, “it’s the hard stop.”
dr Nikki (Emilia Fox) and her boyfriend, forensic scientist Jack, have some sadistic fun with their new recruit. Velvy (played by Alastair Michael) is an unworldly innocent, so inexperienced that he has never traveled beyond the M25.
dr Nikki (Emilia Fox) (pictured) and her boyfriend, forensic expert Jack, had some sadistic fun with their new recruit in Silent Witness
How he got a job with Nikki and Jack, the morgue’s SAS, who risk their lives weekly while circling the police, isn’t clear. Someone mentioned being recommended by a friend. That only shows who you know, not what.
Velvy is so clueless that he was in disbelief when he stumbled in to find Nikki and Jack sharing a moment. “Have you kissed?” He took a deep breath.
In fact, they just looked at each other admiringly. Nikki was flushed and hyperventilating. Jack (David Caves), who looks like a bloated Mr. Universe doll that’s been inflated a little too much, flexed his pecs – always a sign that he’s being gripped by emotion.
Love must be good for Jack because he seems to have developed a new superpower – the ability to see into the past. Roaming around the banker’s offices, he discovered a spilled cup of coffee and a sandwich with a bite.
From this he deduced that the dead man was chased onto the roof by a hitman in red shoes before climbing onto a parapet and sliding to his doom.
Jack later visited a tattoo parlor where his time machine vision showed him an undercover cop with a bunch of Italian gangsters and a torture chamber in the room upstairs.
Teams of Donegal miners have been working under the foundations around the clock for years, hand-excavating the clay in near-silent silence at the Mayfair Hotel Megabuild
When work is complete, Claridge’s will have a five-story underground complex. It’s an amazing achievement, funded in part by the Qatari royal family, but this documentary managed to make it a little mundane
This piqued the interest of Detective Laine Cassidy (Sophia Myles) of the National Crime Agency. And it takes a lot to pique their curiosity. “I’m not leaving my corner office for murder,” she announced. “It’s more serious than that.”
Meanwhile, Nikki dissects a pig that recently ate a human corpse. A scrap of tattooed skin enabled her to identify the victim as the undercover cop.
In her single days, Dr. Nikki horrified. Now she’s totally in love, she just giggled and called the pig “Peppa”.
Emilia Fox also told The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild (BBC2), her voice cooing with glamor as Claridge’s in London was treated to “the boldest hotel upgrade ever”.
The technology is certainly impressive. Donegal miner teams have been working under the foundations around the clock for years, excavating the clay by hand almost silently. . . so as not to disturb the guests.
When work is complete, Claridge’s will have a five-story underground complex. It’s an amazing achievement, funded in part by the Qatari royal family, but this documentary managed to make it a little mundane. We saw a few short introductions and lots of shots of men in hard hats.
There’s an intriguing story here, but so far this film hasn’t unearthed it.