Created byCatherine Moulton, who herself is partially hearing-impaired, the latest in along line of British thrillerson ITV is certainly nothing like the rest, breaking boundaries by becoming one of only a handful ofDeaf-led dramas in modern television. The series follows Alison Woods, portrayed by the ever-brilliantRose Ayling-Ellis, as “a young woman plucked from her job working in a police canteen to help out on a covert investigation. All the usual lip-readers are busy, and the detectives need someone to help with surveillance on a gang suspected of planning a heist.”
The series also stars the likes ofKieron Moore, Andrew Buchan, andGhostsalumCharlotte Ritchie, the latter of whom has been a vocal advocate for the series and its groundbreaking nature in recent weeks, telling Radio Times that the show boasts “representation that felt needed.” “It’s so exciting when shows like this get funded and get commissioned,” Ritchie told the publication, adding, “The fact that Cat was writing from her own experience, it just felt detailed, it felt true. I mean, I can’t say if it felt true. It’s not my experience. But it just felt likewhen I read it, and I was with all these characters, they felt real to me,and the details were all there.” She later went on to shed light on the importance of the series and its representation, saying:
“I think it’s really interesting to getthe audience to have a taste of what it feels like to not be fully informedand to be slightly on the periphery of a conversation and not know the whole story straight away. I think that that feels like an interesting parallel with some of the things that Rose has expressed about her experience as a Deaf woman. Sometimes you miss the odd thing, or if you miss the train of a conversation then you kind of have to let it go. "
Lip-Reading in Particular Needs Better On-Screen Representation
Lip-reading is an enormously skilled ability, one that is essentially a requirement of the Deaf community and needs better acknowledgment within society. It is also something hugely underrepresented on television, withCode of Silencecertainly helping change that issue. In the aforementioned interview,Ritchie explains how lip-reading has never been explored like this before in British television, saying, “it’s never been done in this way before. We’re the first to do it. So ironically, lip-reading is a puzzle, but it’s also a puzzle working out how to put it on the screen.” She later added, “It was representation that felt needed. It’s such a groundbreaking show that obviously, it goes without saying, that it felt like a really great thing to be part of.”
Code of Silencedebuted last night on ITV in the UK. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more updates on the biggest British shows.
