{"id":183579,"date":"2025-11-16T11:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T11:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/183579\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T11:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T11:58:16","slug":"surprising-amount-silent-witness-creator-left-to-his-family-after-passing-away-from-terminal-illness-aged-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/183579\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising amount Silent Witness creator left to his family after passing away from terminal illness aged 71"},"content":{"rendered":"

By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 04:16 EST, 16 November 2025 | Updated: 04:24 EST, 16 November 2025 <\/p>\n

The creator of hit TV\u00a0crime<\/a> drama Silent Witness has left just \u00a310,000 in his will after dying from a terminal illness aged 71, it has been revealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nigel McCrery – who is also the co-creator of New Tricks – had that amount in his estate when he passed away in February, documents show, and the modest sum was divided among his relatives.<\/p>\n

The screenwriter and novelist was diagnosed with a terminal illness in October last year.<\/p>\n

He served as a police officer with the murder squad in Nottingham<\/a> before he launched his television career.<\/p>\n

After leaving Nottinghamshire Police, he joined the BBC<\/a> on a graduate entry scheme in 1990.<\/p>\n

He used his background in policing to create Backup, a drama about a police operational support unit.<\/p>\n

It ran between 1995 and 1997, as reported by NeedToKnow. He then went on to create the drama Silent Witness in 1996.<\/p>\n

It followed forensic pathologists and scientists investigating crimes and trying to catch the people responsible.<\/p>\n

\"Nigel <\/p>\n

Nigel McCrery (pictured)\u00a0left just \u00a310,000 in his will after dying from a terminal illness aged 71<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr McCrery had two daughters, named Emily and Rebecca, and one son, Luke<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The modest sum of \u00a310,000 was divided among his relatives after his death<\/p>\n

\"Nigel <\/p>\n

Nigel McCrery had the amount in his estate when he passed away in February\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initially starring Amanda Burton and Emilia Fox, it became one of the BBC’s most enduring dramas. Season 29 will be airing in early 2026.<\/p>\n

The Grant of Probate reads: ‘The application has stated that the gross value of the estate in the United Kingdom amounts to \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n

‘And the net value amounts to \u00a310,000.’<\/p>\n

Mr McCrery had two daughters, named Emily and Rebecca, and one son, Luke.<\/p>\n

He married Gillian Copson in 1976 but they divorced in 2005.<\/p>\n

The writer left 25 per cent of his estate to each of his children, 20 per cent to his partner Abigail Cobley and 5 per cent to his ex-wife.<\/p>\n

Mr McCrery also co-created New Tricks in 2005 with Roy Mitchell.<\/p>\n

The show, which focused on three retired police officers who were drafted in to help solve cold cases and became a starring vehicle for Dennis Waterman, ran for 10 years.<\/p>\n

He also wrote several novels as well as a number of non-fiction books.<\/p>\n

At the time of his death, a United Agents spokesperson said: ‘As the creative mind behind such hits as the much loved long running BBC drama series Silent Witness and New Tricks, Nigel captivated and inspired audiences for years with his work.<\/p>\n

‘His numerous contributions to the arts will always be remembered. Nigel had an incredible career and will be greatly missed.’<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Surprising amount Silent Witness creator left to his family after passing away from terminal illness aged 71<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER Published: 04:16 EST, 16 November 2025 | Updated: 04:24 EST, 16 November 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[3412,118,18,117,19,17,5,103514],"class_list":{"0":"post-183579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nottingham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115559262999334492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}