'Code of Silence' Star Rose Ayling-Ellis on the Fight for Deaf Representation

BritBox’s Code of Silence has all the hallmarks of a typical crime thriller, but it’s also unlike any show on television today. Key to its success is its lead actor, Rose Ayling-Ellis, a rapidly rising star and one of the most prominent Deaf actors in the UK. Ayling-Ellis is an Olivier-nominated actor of stage and screen, the first Deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and has guest-starred on Doctor Who, Reunion, and Ludwig, to name just a few. Alongside acting, she is an advocate for d/Deaf and disability representation and access in media and a champion of British Sign Language.

Code of Silence follows Ayling-Ellis’s character Alison, a young woman at a dead-end job in a police department cafeteria whose life is turned upside down when detectives approach her for help on a case. Because she is deaf, the detectives want to utilize her lip-reading abilities to eavesdrop on a gang of jewel thieves they are investigating. But as the investigation unfolds, Alison becomes increasingly reckless and personally involved in the case. Her commitment to the case is put to the test by Liam Barlow (Kieron Moore), a hacker with the gang who has a sensitive side and a soft spot for Alison.

The series is notable not just for its representation of Deaf individuals on screen, but also for its disability representation behind the scenes. The show’s creator and writer, Catherine Moulton, is hard of hearing and drew from her own experience to create the character of Alison. Three of the show’s executive producers, Moulton, Ayling-Ellis, and Bryony Arnold, are women with disabilities, a rarity in the television landscape. The series has been a hit with British audiences and has already been renewed for a second season.