'Reunion' Brings a New Bilingualism to the BBC

We've been covering the Welsh language and culture resurgence in the last few months as the Cymraeg 2050 project has started altering the U.K. TV landscape. But we would be remiss if we did not also note another surprising bilingualism that's been recently embraced by the BBC and others: British Sign Language. Deaf actors are nothing new on television, but this year only, ITV and the BBC have released two competing shows that blow the stereotypes around Deaf culture out of the water. Code of Silence (which will stream in the U.S. on BritBox later in 2025) takes the "odd couple mystery solvers" trope, with one of them being Deaf. Now, the BBC has premiered Reunion, about a Deaf inmate's revenge.

Like Film Club, which only recently managed to escape limbo at the BBC, Reunion was part of the massive slate of dramas commissioned in early 2024. At the time, it merely stated the series would be from Deaf writer William Mager about someone unable to fully integrate into the hearing world and shunned by the Deaf community. Filming began in May 2024, announcing that the series was "an emotional thriller of revenge and redemption" of Daniel Brennan, "a deaf man determined to unravel the truth behind the events that led him to prison."

Mager said in a recent interview with the BBC that he originally wrote the script from "a place of anger" after only ever seeing Deaf characters on TV portrayed as helpless victims. But it turned into a love letter of sorts, with Mager saying he worked to highlight that "sign language is not just one thing. Sign language can be used in different ways," Mager said. "Some people sign and speak at the same time, and some use sign language solely. Others will use SSC (Scottish Sensory Centre) and add in elements of gesture. I wanted to show the variety of communication methods that deaf and hard-of-hearing people use."

The series marks a milestone in inclusive storytelling, with the majority of the cast and many crew members being Deaf or using British Sign Language (BSL). Mager said that was part of the plan. 

"I wrote Reunion as a bilingual script from the start. I knew clearly who would be signing, who would be speaking, and who wouldn’t be signing at all. However, I had to use italics and bold to show the different range of communications that they use," he explained. "I had to think about that carefully so that the director could hopefully navigate that with the language each character should be using. I also wanted to show that no deaf person is the same and that everyone has their own style of communication, their own language, their own accent, so it was important for me that it was a bilingual series from the start."

Here's the synopsis for the new series:

Reunion is a four-part revenge thriller told through the unique point of view of a deaf man isolated from society, both physically and emotionally. We meet Brennan, a convicted murderer, as he leaves prison after serving ten years. Upon leaving prison, Brennan has a clear mission: revenge.

Embodying the struggle of a man caught between two worlds, Brennan cannot fully integrate into the hearing world while shunned by the deaf community. Amidst this isolation, the only hope of redemption and saving Brennan from himself is through rebuilding his relationship with his estranged daughter, Carly, and finding a way to let go of the past. Will Brennan be consumed by his desire for revenge or take the opportunity for a new life with his daughter?

Matthew Gurney (Coffee Morning Club) leads the cast as recently released prisoner Daniel Brennan, with Lara Peake (Mood) as his daughter Carly. The cast also includes Anne-Marie Duff (Bad Sisters), Eddie Marsan (Supacell), Rose Ayling-Ellis (Code of Silence), Stephen Collins (Dune), Sophie Stone (The Chelsea Detective), Olive Gray (Sex Education), Joe Sims (Broadchurch), and Ace Mahbaz (Small World). Supporting cast includes Cherie Gordon (Boat Story), Brian Duffy (Silent Witness), Joanne Harrison (The Nest), Julian Peedle-Calloo (Louder Than Words), Rinkoo Barpaga (You Don’t Know Me), James Joseph Boyle (Retreat), and David Hirshman (Signs of an Affair).

Series creator Mager wrote all episodes of Reunion, and director Luke Snellin (One Day) helmed all installments, with Helen Ostler as producer and Siobhan Morgan as associate producer. Mager is also an executive producer alongside Mark Herbert & Gwen Gorst for Warp Films and Rebecca Ferguson & Jo McClellan for the BBC. 

Reunion still has no American distributor. Hopefully, this will be rectified soon.