Code of Silence ITV Lipreading Drama

Code of Silence is an upcoming TV thriller that is being developed for ITV. 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 lip reader. Rose is already well recognised after appearing in EastEnders and  has become something of a folk hero in 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 dangerous criminals. 

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 lipreading  will invariably be portrayed as  pivotal in solving the case, in reality, lipreading is much more challenging than the show is likely to depict. Only a fraction of speech is visible on the lips, and much of the  process of lipreading relies on context and  garnered intuition. However, for the sake of drama, the show is likely to present Alison’s lipreading as more accurate and effective than it would typically be in real life. Otherwise, it might not make for particularly dramatic 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 will understand some of the intricacies of living with hearing loss, and the everyday effect it has on our lives.

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 this language, 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.

The show is being filmed in and around Bristol,  and is expected to  be broadcast at some point in 2024/25 on ITV and ITVX. It  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.