Code of Silence ITV Lipreading Drama

Code of Silence is being broadcast on Sunday the 18th of May 2025. It is a thriller that has been developed for ITV, running for six episodes. It stars Rose Ayling-Ellis as Alison. Rose plays a Deaf woman who becomes a valuable asset in a police investigation by using her skill as a forensic lipreader. Rose is already well recognised after appearing in EastEnders and  has become something of a hero in the world of hearing loss and the d/Deaf community after her game-changing win on Strictly Come Dancing. As a Deaf woman in the public eye, she challenges the public's preconceived ideas about what deafness is (there are many different types of hearing loss), and how it affects people. In Code of Silence she plays a character who is drawn into a criminal investigation after being asked by the police to lipread secretly filmed conversations between some decidedly dodgy people. 

Rose Ayling-Ellis has already played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the d/Deaf community. Her participation in Strictly Come Dancing brought widespread attention to British Sign Language (BSL) and helped change public perceptions about deafness.  It is not unreasonable to expect that Code of Silence will highlight the unique challenges of lipreading in the same way, such as noisy environments and background noise. Anything that brings attention to this is a good thing, and it could potentially provide a fresh, relatable perspective for all viewers.  It should prompt some people with hearing loss to reach out and book a lipreading class. It could also offer further visibility for d/Deaf culture and lipreading. Just as strictly boosted awareness of BSL, and caused a big spike in people wanting to learn BSL, Code of Silence might cause a flurry of lipreading students. I will be very careful to let potential students know that learning to lipread is a time-consuming process, that requires application and attentiveness.

In the series, Alison is juggling two jobs - working in a police canteen as well as her local pub. At the same time, she is also caring for her Deaf mother. When she's asked to help the police by lipreading criminals, her life is complicated further by a personal connection to one of the  key suspects. 

Of course the show's focus on lipreading is what is of primary interest to us as lip readers with hearing loss. While Alison's forensic lipreading skills will invariably be portrayed as  pivotal in solving the case, in reality, lipreading is an extremely difficult skill to master. Only a fraction of speech is visible on the lips, and much of the  process of lipreading relies on context and  garnered intuition. For the sake of drama, the show may present Alison’s lipreading as more accurate and effective than it would typically be in real life. Otherwise, it might not make for particularly compelling viewing. It is entirely possible that a large chunk of the nation will believe that lipreading is a 100% accurate process, easy to do and can be picked up after a short course. (Spoiler, it isn't!)

The series is written by Catherine Moulton, who  will be drawing from her own lived experiences with hearing loss and lipreading. This is reassuring for the d/Deaf community, as Catherine understands some of the intricacies of living with hearing loss, and the everyday effect it has on our lives.

The show was filmed in and around Hertfordshire and Bristol. It is expected to  be broadcast on ITV and ITVX on 18th of May 2025. The cast list includes a number of well known British actors, such as Charlotte Ritchie and Andrew Buchan. Code of Silence  has the potential to be a standout series, both for its provocative storyline and for the way it portrays hearing loss and communication. 

Did you come here looking for lipreading courses near me? Online lipreading classes are available to UK students via this website.