Anthony Head Credits

Silent Witness

Television guest star appearance (UK)

Series summary: Crime drama revolving around the cases of police pathologist Sam Ryan.

Role: Henry Hutton
Episode: 5.02 - Two Below Zero, Parts One and Two
Original air date: February 12 and February 13, 2001
Network: BBC1

Summary of Anthony Head's storyline: In the aftermath of an avalanche, the nude body of a young woman is found at a Norwegian ski resort. The body is initially identified as that of 19-year-old Ruth Townsend who had disappeared at the resort two months earlier. Forensic pathologist Sam Ryan is called by an attorney friend who represents John Taylor, the owner of the travel agency Ruth worked for.DCI Norton is also there on behalf of the British police. Ruth was last seen throwing a drink at a middle-aged man in a bar. During the autopsy, a hairslide is found in the girl's hair. It is also revealed that she was pregnant with twins and she was strangled. However, the comparison of dental records shows that the body is not Ruth's.

John Taylor tells Sam of a friend of his, Louise Hutton, who had disappeared at the same resort 15 years earlier. Since she has already seen the body, Sam pays a visit to Louise's parents, Tony and Virginia Hutton. She breaks the news to them that their daughter was pregnant when she died. After Sam leaves, Major Hutton departs and Virginia asks the estate manager, Stephen Merchant, if her brother-in-law Henry, who lives in a cottage on the grounds, is around. She goes to see him and tells him that Louise's body has been found. He barely reacts. She starts to tell him about the pregnancy but cannot say it.

The Norwegian police discover Ruth's body. She was also found nude, had hairslides in her hair and was strangled. Neither girl was sexually assaulted. Sam has no plans to continue her involvement in the investigation, but visits from Ruth's mother and, later, John Taylor, change her mind. Taylor confesses to her that he might have been the father of Louise's twins. She had come to him one night upset over family troubles and later would not speak to him. At the resort, she avoided him the night she disappeared by taking refuge with her uncle Henry at a bar. Sam consults with a profiler friend of hers, Alice Michaels, to get a feel for what type of person might be committing the murders.

Henry spies two pretty teenage girls, Julie and Vicky, in a local pub and heads over to their table with champagne. He claims that a young man asked him to bring it over and then talks his way into joining them himself. All three get drunk. Stephen, the Hutton's estate manager, arrives and sees them. He calls Julie's father to let him know that his underage daughter is drinking. Her dad arrives and takes her home. Left alone with Vicky, Henry starts coming on to her more blatantly, trying to put his hand up her skirt. She tells him to get off and leaves.

In the meantime, John visits Virginia and tells her that he and Louise had fought the night she disappeared. He also mentions that she was with Henry that night. After he leaves, Ginny calls Henry and leaves a message on his answering machine: "You couldn't leave her alone, could you? You bastard."

Vicky is walking home when John Taylor drives by. A few moments later we see a car pulling up to her...

Part Two: DNA tests reveal that John was the father of Louise's twins. But the autopsy had indicated she was 12-13 weeks pregnant and John's story would have put her at 10 weeks. Sam asks DCI Norton if both fetuses were tested. Only one was and she asks that the other be tested as well.

Stephen drives Ginny to see Henry and waits in the car while she goes in. She accuses Henry of sleeping with Louise which he denies. She finally tells him that Louise was pregnant. She realizes from his reaction that he had slept with Louise and attacks him with a fireplace poker. He hits her back just as Stephen arrives at the window. He runs out the back door as Stephen rushes in. At the hospital, Virginia tells the police and her husband that Henry attacked her because of Louise and that he had been sleeping with his niece. Tony Hutton tells the police that this year was the first time his brother had joined them in Norway since the year Louise vanished. Tony tries to defend his brother but Virginia tells the police that Stephen had seen a girl throwing a drink at Henry during their last visit to Norway.

While the police search the Hutton grounds for Henry, they find Vicky's body in an old freezer in the barn. Her body is arranged in the exact same manner as the other girls. Henry is found in the same pub he was at the day before. He thinks the police are there about the incident with Ginny and is stunned when DCI Norton arrests him for murder. Norton questions Henry who denies having ever had sex with Louise. He remembers seeing her the night she disappeared and that they had a drink, after which she left. He denies knowing Ruth but remembers a girl throwing her drink at him. He also doesn't recognize the name Vicky at first but casually asks what about her when he is reminded about the previous day.

The additional DNA tests show that John was not the father of both twins. Samples of Henry's hair are taken to see if he is the father of the other fetus. Sam is convinced that the arrangement of each girl's hair in a childlike way is the key to the case. Norton asks the Huttons if that description reminds them of anyone, especially someone in connection with Henry. Ginny says no but Tony remembers a 12-year-old girl from the village. Henry was home after being drummed out of the army and molested the girl. His parents found out and hushed it up, sending Henry abroad. The girl died in an accident shortly thereafter. Tony cannot recall her name, or her family, as he was not around at the time of these events. Henry joined the family on the occasional ski trip after that but never returned to England until this year.

Stephen is questioned about the night he saw Ruth and Henry in Norway and says that Henry was upset that Ruth threw a drink at him. He also says that Henry misuses his privilege and has no respect for anyone.

Henry is questioned further and admits that his parents had cut him off without anything. He denies knowing why at first but DCI Norton reminds him of the young girl back in 1971. He admits to having been thrown out of the army for embezzling funds and adds that his brother was suspected at first. Tony only inherited the estate as a result of Henry being cut off. Henry claims Tony has always felt guilty about all this. He refers to his brother as pathetic. Henry refuses to answer any questions about the young girl and simply stares at Norton with a rather smug look.

Sam talks to Alice Michaels again, who doesn't think Henry sounds guilty because none of the victims were sexually assaulted, which doesn't fit with Henry's behavior. Although the DNA tests have proven that Henry was the father of Louise's second twin, Sam starts to doubt his guilt in the murders. She believes that rather than being the murderer, Henry may instead be the common denominator that triggers the killer. Norton is convinced of Henry's guilt however and refuses to consider this.

A strand of hair was found in the hairslide on Louise and it turns out to belong to another female. Norton is convinced this is another of Henry's victims and questions him again. He asks Henry how many other bodies there are. Henry doesn't respond at first but then starts counting on his fingers, up to five. He then says he is joking. When Norton asks him again if he ever had sex with his niece, he denies it again. But when Norton tells him that DNA tests have proven that Louise was pregnant by him, he no longer bothers to try and deny it. He claims that just a few generations ago such behavior was de rigueur to maintain the purity of the Hutton line. He also states that Louise didn't need much encouraging, which he suspects she got from her mother. He also finally admits to knowing that Louise was pregnant and says that he offered to pay for the abortion but Louise threw the money back in his face. Still, the police have no evidence to hold Henry and must release him. Tony agrees to let his brother come back to the estate.

The other girl from the pub, Julie, is waiting at a bus stop when Stephen stops to offer her a lift to the train station. They discuss Vicky's funeral and he tells her that when he was 13, his stepsister had drowned and he had been the one who found her. He is waiting again for Julie when she returns and offers her another ride. She tells him she thinks that Henry was more interested in her that night in the pub and Stephen tells her that Henry has been released. He takes her to his place because she doesn't feel safe being home alone.

Sam talks to Alice Michaels one more time. Alice suggests that the killer might be someone who was close to the young girl Henry had molested, a brother or stepbrother perhaps. He may have known about the abuse but was too young to prevent it. In his eyes, when she died, she would have been at peace. He may have killed the other girls believing that he was saving them from Henry. Sam realizes that the hairslides found on each body must have belongs to the abused girl and it was her hair found in the one on Louise.

Sam goes to the Hutton's to try and locate any relatives of the girl. Henry refuses to give any information he may know about her identity or family. Julie's father arrives looking for her and he is convinced Henry has hurt her. At Stephen's house, he is telling Julie about his stepsister Emily and how Henry had abused her. He says that when he found her drowned body, she looked peaceful and safe, that no one could hurt her any more.

Sam tells Henry that someone is killing girls to save them from Henry. He jokes that if that were the case, there would be hundreds of dead bodies. She points out that it is someone in the village and Henry's return triggered him to start killing again. Henry makes it clear he doesn't care about any of this. Tony angrily tells Henry that while he has been sleeping with girls young enough to be his daughter, one of them actually was. He points out that Henry was never interested in Ginny until he saw that Tony was and then he just had to get there first. Henry is shocked that Louise was his daughter and shows real emotion for the first time. Henry finally tells them the girl's name was Emily, adding he thought she was older. He also tells them that Stephen was her stepbrother. Sam, Tony and the police go to Stephen's house, where they find Julie, tied up but still alive. Stephen is arrested. Henry is putting a bag in a car when Tony returns. The brothers stare at each other for a moment, before Henry gets in the car and drives off without saying anything.

The episode ends with Ruth Townsend's mother thanking Sam for not giving up and finding the truth of how her daughter died.