Silent Witness creator Nigel McCrery dies aged 71 after terminal illness diagnosis
His drama's 28th series aired earlier this year.
Nigel McCrery, the creator of TV shows including the long-running hit Silent Witness, has died at the age of 71.
McCrery was also responsible for creating and penning New Tricks, using his own experience serving in the police as the basis of both popular BBC dramas.
His agent confirmed the news of McCrery’s death to the BBC ‘with a heavy heart’, saying the writer would be ‘greatly missed’.
McCrery, who was also a published author, was diagnosed with an undisclosed terminal illness in October 2024.
United Agents posted on social media platform X on Monday morning: ‘It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news of screenwriter, author and producer Nigel McCrery’s passing.
‘As the creative mind behind such hits as the much loved long running BBC drama series Silent Witness and New Tricks, Nigel captivated and inspired audiences for years with his work.
The former police officer turned to writing as a second career (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock) McCrery’s biggest TV success, Silent Witness, has been airing for nearly 30 years (Picture: BBC Studios/Gary Moyes)‘His numerous contributions to the arts will always be remembered. Nigel had an incredible career and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.’
Silent Witness has aired since 1996, with its 28th series broadcast earlier this year.
Currently starring Emilia Fox, who took over as new lead character Nikki Alexander when Amanda Burton’s Sam Ryan departed in 2004, Silent Witness follows a team of forensic pathologists who solve crimes.
Meanwhile New Tricks, which ran for 12 years from 2003, focused on a group of retired detectives drafted in to help solve cold cases.
The often irascible – but gifted – team was most famously made up of the late Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam, whose methods often tested Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman), the head of the unit and the only serving police officer.
New Tricks was another big hit for the writer and the BBC, airing for over a decade and focusing on a unit of retired detectives (Picture: Wall to Wall/BBC)McCrery’s first job saw him work for the murder squad in Nottingham before, serving as a police officer from 1978 to 1987.
He joined the BBC in 1990 on a graduate scheme after reading modern history at Cambridge..
Moving over to the drama department, he first used his professional background to create Backup, which ran from 1995 to 1997 and followed a police operational support unit.
He also created and wrote 1999 film All the King’s Men, starring Dame Maggie Smith and Sir David Jason, and 1950s-based medical drama Born and Bred (2002 – 2006), as well as penning several fiction and non-fiction books.
McCrery spoke publicly about coming to terms with his diagnosis in November (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock)Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme in November about facing a terminal diagnosis, McCrery admitted it had come as ‘quite a shock’.
‘I mean people deal with their deaths in different ways, and I think it’s all very, very individual to each of us. But I think for a little while you do go into shock – or I did, and I was in a bit of a state,’ he shared.
The writer said he had ‘used to cry a lot, used to sob a lot’ as he processed the news.
‘It’s not that I’m scared of dying, I’m actually not. I have wonderful granddaughters, and it’s missing them growing up. It’s the things I’ll be missing by not being around that I’ll find the hardest to cope with,’ McCreary added.
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