Editing Silent Witness (section)

==Critical review==
An episode first broadcast in April 2012 attracted criticism for its violent and sadistic content.<ref name=BelTel>{{cite web |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/silent-witness-broke-tv-guidelines-29096127.html |title=Silent Witness broke TV guidelines |publisher=Belfasst Telegraph digital |date=26 February 2013 |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219085717/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/silent-witness-broke-tv-guidelines-29096127.html |url-status=live }}</ref> There were 632 complaints made about the fifteenth-series episode ''[[List of Silent Witness episodes#ep126|Redhill]]'', written by [[Ed Whitmore]], which included a scene depicting a sadistic sexual and murderous attack. The BBC was censured by the editorial committee of the [[BBC Trust]], which said in its report:

{{blockquote|text=When the prison officer emerged from the toilet holding the bloodied stick with a pool of blood on the toilet floor, viewers were left in no doubt that an act of sexual violence was being carried out.{{nbsp}}... The committee concluded that the final scenes in the toilet block were in breach of the guidelines on harm and offence as they exceeded audience expectations for this series as they depicted a sadistic method of inflicting pain, injury and death.<ref name=BelTel />}}

The BBC had responded to the initial criticism of the episode by saying that it took its responsibility to its audience "extremely seriously" and always tried to "strike the right balance between compelling drama without being unnecessarily graphic".<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC defends 'Silent Witness' violence after complaints |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/media/a378857/bbc-defends-silent-witness-violence-after-complaints/ |publisher=Digital Spy |date=27 April 2012 |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219085720/https://www.digitalspy.com/media/a378857/bbc-defends-silent-witness-violence-after-complaints/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It said that "The final scene was not an attempt to gratuitously shock the audience;{{nbsp}}... We acknowledge that certain scenes may have been challenging, but we filmed and presented them in such a way as to make sure that although as a viewer the implication was there, it was never actually shown."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaint/silent_witness_upsetting_scenes_ |title=Complaints – Silent Witness, upsetting scenes, BBC One 22 and 23 April 2012 |publisher=BBC |access-date=2014-07-21 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116165015/http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaint/silent_witness_upsetting_scenes_ |url-status=live }}</ref>