Silent Witness star William Gaminara set for dramatic exit

Following the exit of Tom Ward at the end of series 15 of Silent Witness, the BBC has announced William Gaminara, who has played Forensic Pathologist, Professor Leo Dalton since 2002, will leave BBC One’s long running drama at the end of this series.

His final episode, which airs tonight, picks up with Leo and his team in Afghanistan investigating the human remains of a suspected murdered British soldier who vanished five years ago. So far this series, Silent Witness has attracted a consolidated series average of 7.4 million viewers / 25.5% share.

William Gaminara, who plays Professor Leo Dalton, says: “After 11 series I have decided to leave Silent Witness. I have had a fantastic time on the show but feel now is the appropriate time to move on hopefully to other ventures. Many thanks to all those who have been involved over the past decade, in particular the incredibly hard-working crews and production teams without whom the programme would be on the slab. Keep those tox reports coming in.”

Leo develops a life-changing relationship with a charity worker as he and his co-workers, Pathologist Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Forensic Scientist Jack Hodgson (David Caves), grow suspicious of a British security firm’s torture of captured Taliban fighters. But when a forensic breakthrough changes the course of the team’s investigation, it triggers a chain of events that put them all in imminent danger.

Kate Harwood, Head of Drama, England, BBC says: “William Gaminara as Leo has been the rock at the centre of Silent Witness for 11 series, being a mentor, hero and father to the team. This hasn’t stopped him from also leading some of the most high octane and often the most deeply moving stories the show has told in that time. We’ll never forget him confronting youth gun crime in Safe and his own personal demons in Lost.”

William Gaminara‘s final episode will air tonight [February 8] at 9 pm on BBC One.

Silent Witness will return with Emilia Fox and David Caves for a new series in 2014.