Silent Witness at 30 – Revisiting our interview with Amanda Burton: ‘I don’t suffer fools gladly’

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This article originally appeared in TopMob magazine in February 1996, coinciding with the debut of the first Silent Witness series.

I’m not easily shocked, but I’m genuinely surprised to see such a reserved actress in a film that opens with explicit outdoor love scenes. It’s a huge departure from her wholesome roles in shows like Peak Practice. I’m currently playing her mother and offering her tea – we’re filming in a comfortable hotel room in Chelsea Harbour – as she considers how to explain it.

She paused, then said, “This is the first project I’ve done with nudity and a significant amount of intimate scenes, so I really had to consider if I was comfortable with it. While my previous role on Brookside was dramatic, it focused more on physical challenges than sexual content. And although the romantic scenes in Peak Practice were fairly mild, I’m happy with how things are handled in Silent Witness. It’s just the way the show is made.”

The show features her as Dr. Sam Ryan, a 37-year-old forensic pathologist originally from Belfast. She lives and works in Cambridge, having moved there with her mother after Sam’s father, a police officer in the RUC, was killed in a car bomb when she was 13.

The first episode centers around the discovery of a seven-year-old girl’s body in a river. Detective Sam begins investigating and quickly suspects child abuse, especially after learning the girl’s stepfather was previously in a relationship with a woman convicted of killing her own child. Sam is deeply disturbed by the abuse, finding it far more shocking than any nudity or sexual content in the case, and struggles to comprehend such cruelty towards children.

She has a gentle voice, with a hint of the accent from her childhood in Londonderry, where she grew up as the youngest of four daughters of a school principal. Like her sisters, who became nurses and teachers, she possesses a somewhat reserved and careful nature, which is a bit unexpected for someone in her profession. However, beneath her delicate appearance lies a surprising strength – a quality more commonly found than one might think.

I could be wrong, but it seems a bit unusual – and perhaps reckless – that she chooses to drive a Cherokee Jeep around London. She admits that a bad driver in a four-wheel drive vehicle can be dangerous, but she believes she’s a good driver and enjoys being behind the wheel.

She repeatedly mentions how private she is, which is a common irony among performers. She acknowledges this contradiction, saying, “Yes, it’s a huge contradiction.” She isn’t sure why she became an actress, but she recalls loving to dance from around age six, spending hours alone creating and performing ballets to music.

I’ve noticed my daughters, Phoebe and Brid, are following a similar path, and my husband, photographer Sven Amstein, and I often dance together in his studio – I find it really relaxing. I always enjoyed making people laugh at school and was quite good at disrupting dull lessons. When I was thirteen, I started acting in plays. I was a real homebody, so the idea of going to rehearsals after school was scary at first. But I loved the thrill of performing – I think it was a way of showing off!

I still get a real rush from filming scenes. There’s something exciting about everyone focusing on the work. It’s not about wanting attention – it feels a bit vain to even admit enjoying it, and we’re discouraged from celebrating our own successes. It’s more that you only realize later if you did a good job, and then you have to cautiously ask for feedback.

I tend to worry a lot and feel anxious. I’m not driven by a need to please others – I only allow myself to enjoy things when they genuinely feel good. I actually prefer the uncertainty of working in television, where you don’t have complete control over the final product because of editing. I like that the director and editor shape the overall vision, and I trust their judgment – you really have to.

Some people think there are already enough police and medical shows on TV, and Silent Witness blends both. However, it’s unique because it focuses on what happens after a crime, through the eyes of a pathologist. Unlike doctors who treat living patients, pathologists are like detectives piecing together clues from the deceased – it’s a very different kind of work.

I do think there’s a lot of focus on medical and police shows in this country. Maybe it’s because we’re particularly concerned about these issues, and stories involving life and death are naturally dramatic. However, we always have the choice to change the channel, and different shows appeal to us for various reasons – like a beloved actor or interesting setting. I don’t often watch TV myself, but there are definitely some excellent programs available.

After training as an actress at Manchester Polytechnic, she spent several years working in theatre. In 1982, she landed a role on Brookside, playing the character Heather for four years. She decided to leave the show because she enjoys new challenges and wanted to explore other opportunities. She felt she had taken the character as far as she could before it became unbelievable.

You know, after playing a character for a while, the scripts can start asking you to do some really strange things. I always figured it’s best to walk away when people still enjoy your work. I didn’t have another role lined up when I decided to leave, which probably wasn’t the smartest move, but I’ve never been one to plan things out perfectly. Maybe it was confidence, or maybe just a bit reckless – I’ve never really been able to stay put for very long.

The timing aligned with the end of her first marriage, which occurred when she was 20, to a fellow student and stage director named Jonathan Hartley. She simply states, “That’s life. Things end, and new things don’t always begin.” She met Sven while he was taking photos of her on a film set, and later moved to London to be with him. Following her work on ‘Boon,’ she experienced a difficult period in her career.

Last year was rough. I spent months feeling lost, with no auditions and nothing really happening. Honestly, it was awful, but looking back, it forced me to reassess things and maybe that was a good thing. I definitely scaled back my ambitions for a bit. There was a point, right before I landed the role in ‘Peak Practice,’ where I seriously considered quitting acting altogether. I hadn’t figured out a ‘Plan B’ exactly, but I know I could adapt and find fulfillment doing something else – maybe opening a little bakery in France, or getting into collage! The thought didn’t scare me. I’ve never been someone who feels locked into a single path in life.

Despite her initial beliefs, she fondly remembers her three years playing Dr. Beth Glover in the medical drama set in Derbyshire. She used to dismiss the idea that actors truly become their characters. However, she recently realized she might have taken on some of Beth’s personality. She hadn’t thought about it until a surprising conversation last summer with someone she’s keeping anonymous made her realize she’d likely carried aspects of the character with her even after filming ended.

I’ve always been drawn to the world of medicine, but playing a doctor carries the risk of developing an inflated ego and believing you’re someone’s savior – which is arrogant and a dangerous mindset. I noticed a change in my own personality. Beth, who I care about deeply, became someone I leaned on heavily, and I didn’t fully realize how much. Our lives became intertwined, and I blurred the lines between us.

“But I don’t take Sam Ryan home because she’s such a dark person. This probably sounds absolute nonsense, but when I’m dressing for the part I feel her around me, and it’s a very kind of theatrical experience. I take on the mantel of this character when I go into the dressing room and take her off at the end of the day. You’re going to think I’m insane.” She laughs tactfully and I assure her that is not the case.

Filming Silent Witness is genuinely demanding, she explains. The show always faces tight deadlines and limited funding, which means everyone works incredibly long hours – it’s a constant struggle. But the cast gets along well, creating a unique dynamic. The mix of personalities – people you might not normally choose to spend time with – actually enhances the performances and makes the characters more believable on screen.

Her character clashes with police superintendent Harriet Farmer, portrayed by Clare Higgins, who disapproves of her constant involvement in cases already considered closed. The atmosphere on set wasn’t overly friendly or relaxed – it wasn’t like a comfortable theatre environment. While everyone had different personalities, they managed to work well together.

Does she think there’s cattiness among her colleagues? She considers the question. “It’s not necessarily ‘cattiness,’ but sometimes strong competitiveness manifests in an unpleasant way and gets labeled as such. Healthy competition can actually be a good thing. There’s also the frustration you feel with yourself when you don’t achieve what you want. I recognize that in my own behavior. I’ve been making a conscious effort to be more reserved at work.”

Working long hours – from 6:30 AM to 9 PM – requires a lot of focus, especially when you’re filming the same car scene repeatedly, like we were at 8 PM on the fifteenth try. I tend to conserve my energy by being quiet and self-contained. I’m not sure if that makes me hard to work with; you’d have to ask my colleagues. I don’t tolerate incompetence or foolishness, and I’m direct about it.

It makes me think about the challenges of balancing such a demanding job with motherhood. But she insists it’s manageable. Her children have grown up with her and her husband, Sven, frequently traveling for work, so they’re accustomed to it. She emphasizes they have excellent care – a good school and a wonderful nanny – and Sven is usually home for breakfast when she can’t be, allowing them to share responsibilities effectively.

She’s turning forty next year, but she doesn’t see it as something to worry about. Instead, she believes we should celebrate getting older and acknowledge how far we’ve come in a challenging world. She is, however, concerned about the future – not just locally, but globally – and wonders what big changes lie ahead.

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She dreams of making movies and playing a strong, historical woman – someone like the female pioneers who traveled to Africa. She understands their desire to rebel against societal expectations. Back then, life for women was incredibly restrictive – they were expected to be decorative and domestic, and weren’t encouraged to speak their minds. She feels this frustration still exists today, even for actresses trying to break boundaries.

It’s rare to get a really meaty role in a TV show, isn’t it? So often, female characters feel like they’re just there to support the male lead – as wives, girlfriends, mothers… you get the picture. Honestly, I’d love to experience things from a male perspective for a bit, just to see what it’s like to be the one doing all the action and getting to really go for it.

We finish our tea and walk thoughtfully into the night.

Silent Witness seasons 1-28 are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

Authors

Andrew Duncan

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2026-02-21 10:06