Silent Witness

Playing Nice

Monday

ITV1, 9.00pm

James Norton (Joy) stars as a father who has to make an impossible choice.

Like a patient receiving life-changing news when they only went in for a routine check-up, last ­October’s BBC announcement that the long-running daytime drama Doctors was to be axed was a shock. 

For more than two decades, Doctors has been part of the TV audience’s daytime routine across the nation. The final episode will be shown in December 2024, when the surgery closes its doors for ever. It promises to go out with a bang. 

With five thrilling new contemporary stories told over ten episodes, the series will see two new recruits joining Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Jack Hodgson (David Caves).

Aki Omoshaybi (The Pursuit Of Love) will star as the academic, neurologist and pathologist Gabriel Folukoya, who has spent much of his career in innovative research, primarily in the field of data analysis.

Silent Witness 

Monday 

BBC One, 9pm

The long-running crime drama is back again after the previous series ended on a dramatic note with the death of a major character. 

Emilia Fox returns as Dr Nikki Alexander and David Caves is back as Jack Hodgson, with Jason Wong joining the cast as a new member of the team, pathologist Adam Yuen. 

The series 23 finale saw the shock departure of fan favourites Clarissa Mullery (Liz Carr) and Dr Thomas Chamberlain (Richard Lintern), with the latter giving his life to save his team in an explosive conclusion.

Liz Carr explained: "After eight years of getting to play the fabulous character Clarissa Mullery, I’ve decided it’s time to leave Silent Witness.

“To quote Clarissa, 'I just know, deep down - that it’s time for me to move on, to focus less on the dead and more on the living. On life.

The service, named BritBox, will bring a huge catalogue of British content to the United States in one ad-free subscription service.

The platform, which is set to rival providers like Netflix and Amazon in carrying British content across the Atlantic, will premiere shows including Anthony Horowitz-created BBC drama New Blood, and ITV’s historical epic Tutankhamun.

Channel 4 has commissioned the writers Tracey Malone (Silent Witness) and Kate Ashfield (Line of Duty) for their first drama series as a duo.

The psychological thriller, under working title Born to Kill, will be made by World Productions, and looks into the mind of a teenage boy who suppresses psychopathic desires.