It’s a crime drama in which mutilated corpses come thick and fast — not the setting for a nice Jewish boy to ply his trade.

But the new series of the BBC’s primetime hit Silent Witness, which starts airing on Monday, will feature Velvy Schur, a 24-year-old trainee anatomical pathologist whose nebbish sense of inquiry is put to good use on the mortuary table.

His character will be portrayed by the Jewish actor Alastair Michael, who describes him as “a natural scientist — despite him being inexperienced in the sciences.

“When we meet him he has recently left the Charedi community, although we don’t specify which one. I can’t say much more without spoiling the story, but I will say that it is his curiosity that has led him to the secular world,” Mr Michael told the JC.

“But he still holds his faith and heritage close to his heart,” he added. “You could say that he’s looking for new answers to old questions about how to live a good life.”

SILENT WITNESS 14062022 KM 093-2

Show's star: Emilia Fox

His character, who married young and whose estranged wife has remained in the Charedi community, can also struggle to read the room, said Mr Michael, who played Lionel in Ridley Road, the BBC drama about the Jews who took on British fascists in the 1960s.

“Coming out of his old life with its strict social codes means Velvy has to work out how to relate to people with different values and perspectives from him. The result is that he can be a little naïve and a little forthright,” said Mr Michael, who describes himself as a secular Jew.

“But he’s determined to contribute meaningfully to work at the Lyell, the forensic pathology centre where he’s training. And he’s equally determined to work out what his new interests are and where he might make new friends. Taken together, these things mean he has potential to get under the skin of his new colleagues.”

This is not the first time Silent Witness has had a Jewish storyline. A 2014 series featured two Jewish families, including central character, a French-speaking Premier League footballer called Isaac Dreyfus, whose career ends when a sex tape links him to the brutal murder of a young woman.

And six years earlier, the drama entered Charedi territory with the story of a gay yeshivah student who was savagely kicked to death by the mentally ill son of a rabbi who had joined a group of Polish neo-Nazis. The butchered yeshivah bocher was called Yitzchok, and the pronunciation of his name was notably ropey.

This time round we can expect better Jewish articulation. The BBC reports that Silent Witness writer Dudi Appleton mined his Jewish biography to create the character of Mr Schur, working with several Jewish consultants, including Rabbi Neil Janes of South Bucks Jewish Community who is also School Rabbi at Clore Shalom School.

The pathology drama has been running since 1996 and regularly draws audiences of more than seven million. The five-episode series that launches on Monday will continue to star Emilia Fox as forensic pathologist Dr Nikki Alexander and David Caves as scientist Jack Hodgson.