Liz Carr reveals how it feels to miss Silent Witness filming after Clarissa's exit
The actress exited the crime procedural series earlier this year.
Liz Carr has revealed that she has mixed emotions about the next season Silent Witness, in which she previously played lab assistant Clarissa Mullery.
Carr exited the long-running crime series following the season 23 finale earlier this year, when her character Clarissa made the decision to "focus less on the dead and more on the living".
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Carr said she'll watch the next series, which began filming this autumn - but she also joked that she will think it's "not the same" without her.
She said: "I'm sure when I watch it [Silent Witness], I'll be like, 'hmph, it's not the same without me', but also I'm fascinated; I've not asked them anything, I don't know who my replacement is, or if I've been replaced, I don't know what the line looks like this time round, I don't know, but I'm excited to see that, and they're back working on it.
"But I'll always imagine - I think Clarissa went off with Max [her on-screen husband, played by Daniel Weyman], so she's fine, she didn't die, she's floating around the universe. Possible not during COVID, they're probably at home doing jigsaws at the moment. I can imagine that's what her and Max do. But yeah, and play[ing] computer games."
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Speaking earlier in the interview about the next season of Silent Witness, she said: "They started [production] back in September, and I thought, 'what's that going to be like?' And it was weird, it was weird because I'm touch... with them [members of the cast and crew] and they were telling me what's going on, and there was that bit of me going, 'I'd be getting up at half four now', and I'd be - and then there was that [relieved] bit going, 'oh my gGd, I'd be getting up at half four now'.
"But also, I wanted experiences, because I'm kind of - from the travel and the wanderlust and the activism, you'll guess that about me, in a way security comes less high up for me in priorities than experiences... and honestly since I got back filming, and could get back filming again, I've had more auditions than I'd in the eight years on Silent Witness."
Carr will next be returning to our screens in the 150th episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, in which she will draw on Clarissa's forensic attention to detail as she embarks on an investigation into an ancestor's role in an attempted murder.
Carr played Clarissa for eight years on the BBC crime drama, and said at the time of her exit: “After 8 years of getting to play the fabulous character Clarissa Mullery, I’ve decided it’s time to leave Silent Witness.
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"To quote Clarissa, 'I just know, deep down - that it’s time for me to move on, to focus less on the dead and more on the living. On life'. Originally only employed for 4 episodes as Jack’s side kick, I am incredibly proud that I leave as a main character in one of the BBC’s landmark dramas. Silent Witness has given me such an amazing opportunity to develop as an actor but I know this is the right time to take a leap of faith, leaving what I know and seeing what other opportunities await. It has been a rollercoaster of a ride but I feel I’m leaving on an exhilarating high."
The Liz Carr episode of Who Do You Think You Are? will air on the BBC on Monday 2nd November. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.
