Amanda Burton was 'worried' about her Silent Witness return

Amanda Burton was "worried" about her 'Silent Witness' comeback.

The 65-year-old actress starred in the lead role as forensic pathologist Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama from its first episode in 1996 up until 2004, and she will return to the show for its 25th anniversary series later this year.

But Amanda was apprehensive about the comeback in case Sam was "on [her] last legs."

She said: "I was a bit worried that it might have been one of those things where [she’d return as] some sort of 'on your last legs' detective walking across a beach or wearing an old tweed coat … being hauled out of some sort of dementia, or whatever!"

However, the former 'Waterloo Road' star eventually agreed to make a comeback when it was explained to her that Sam had remained active in her field in the years since she departed the show.

She said: "The fact that she was very much active and have been working… that really made me want to come back."

Amanda admitted she wasn't hesitant at all about her comeback, and even joked that it came as a surprise to herself and co-star Emilia Fox, who has starred as Dr. Nikki Alexander since 2004.

Asked if she deliberated about her comeback, she said: "No, quite frankly. Emilia and I did a photo shoot together about four years ago, for the Radio Times and we were laughing about it, sort of, 'Yeah, right, that’s never gonna happen!' "

BBC bosses attempted to keep Amanda's return to the show under wraps, but their efforts were almost ruined when a crowd of fans spotted her filming in Liverpool.

Producer Nick Lambon said: "We were trying to keep Amanda’s involvement completely secret and suddenly 200 people turned up for three days to watch us filming and wandering around. I don’t really know how BBC publicity managed to keep quiet!"

However, Emilia added that the photos didn't give much away and that the incident was just "amusing."

She said: "We were papped, but [the photos] didn’t really say anything very specific, it was very amusing!"

'Silent Witness' is set to return to BBC One later this month.