Silent Witness viewers issue plea after latest episode as Shetland actor guest stars

Silent Witness continued on Monday night with a new episode from its 28th season – and fans have issued a plea to the show's writers after a moving scene.

Warning, spoilers ahead!

The latest instalment, titled 'Broken – Part 1', saw Nikki and Jack investigate the discovery of a dismembered hand in a canal days after a barrister named Faith went missing.

It's soon revealed that the severed hand is Faith's and after finding a mysterious sample of DNA on the evidence, Nikki arrives at the house of Faith's wife Lucy (played by Shetland actor Anneika Rose) to test their son Josh for a match.

Taking to social media, fans praised Nikki's sweet interaction with the little boy and pleaded with the show's writing team to make her a mother. One person penned: "Nikki and another child. Please make this woman a Mum," while another added: "Beautiful. I hope all the kid references and pregnant women are a sign."

A third fan wrote, "SHE'S A NATURAL," alongside a teary emoji. "Babies, Pregnancies, Children In Every Episode So Far - Please Make It Happen For Them," they added, while another suggested that the scene could foreshadow a pregnancy for Nikki, penning: "And once again we see Nikki's maternal nature and love of children in dealing with Josh. Surely this must be pointing to something."

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Fans of the show have long called for Nikki to fall pregnant after she shared a devastating revelation about her past in season 25. Opening up to Jack, the pathologist revealed that when she was 21 years old, she and her ex-husband Tom Faulker had a child who was stillborn at eight months.

"We were having a baby and I lost it. It was a stillbirth at eight months. It was devastating, I spent my 21st birthday in hospital," she revealed, adding: "When I got out, I knew it was over with Tom, I just wanted to be on my own and start again. Wipe the slate. He lost his child and then he lost me, and I barely looked around to see if he was still standing."

While we'll have to wait and see if Nikki and Jack decide to start a family, fans can look forward to their upcoming nuptials following their engagement at the end of the last season.

Opening up about Nikki and Jack's wedding planning, Emilia told HELLO! and other press: "I think the interesting dynamic is that Jack… he's got his mind on working out what a good wedding will be for them, and Nikki's a little bit in denial about it, like the organisation of wedding preparation and what kind of wedding they're going to have at this stage in their lives."

She continued: "They're two people who've been great friends and who have loved each other and supported each other in different ways. Then they've admitted their love for each other and come together and now they're seeing whether they can work together and have a relationship. This is the next stage of commitment."

Silent Witness continues on Tuesday 21 January on BBC One at 9pm.