The 'Code of Silence' Trailer Will Have You Questioning Everything

BritBox has not set a premiere date as yet for the U.S. debut of Code of Silence, but in the U.K., ITV has it slated for mid-May. The new, wholly original police procedural hails from writer Catherine Moulton, who PBS viewers will know from her work on Baptiste, Lark Rise to Candleford, and The Good Karma Hospital. Moulton is partially deaf and a hearing aid user, an overlooked subsection of the Deaf community who live in the in-between of the hearing world and the deaf one; her experiences with lip reading inspired her to create the series, starring a Deaf employee of a police station who gets promoted to join a case and "listen" to the suspects when listening devices cannot be used.

However, as the first trailer shows, just because someone is "differently abled" (and being able to read lips from a distance is a pretty good ability to have), you can't just promote them to detective out of the canteen. The most obvious is that someone without training may not know all the rules that need to be followed to avoid compromising the case. More importantly, having been trained means having been taught to have the emotional discipline not to get involved. 

Unfortunately, while the first can be taught on the fly, the second is much harder to police, especially when the workday ends, but your new team member has no experience in letting things lie until tomorrow...

Here’s the series synopsis:

The highly anticipated six-part series offers a fresh and distinctive perspective on the intersection of crime and communication. At the heart of the series is Alison Brooks, a bright and determined Deaf woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when her remarkable lip-reading skills catch the attention of DS Ashleigh Francis and DI James Marsh. Recruited for a covert operation, Alison must surveil a dangerous gang planning a high-stakes heist, thrusting her into a world of crime and deception.

As she deciphers the gang’s secret conversations, Alison becomes a vital asset to the case. But when she forms a dangerous bond with gang recruit Liam Barlow, the risks grow greater and her true identity is put at stake. Balancing undercover work, family pressures, and emotional fallout, Alison is forced to confront her limits – and change the course of her life forever.

Deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis (Ludwig) leads the cast as Alison Brooks, with Charlotte Ritchie (Call the Midwife) as her mentor and partner in crime-solving (the Raphaelle to her Astrid, as it were), DS Ashleigh Francis. The series also features Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch) as the big boss, DI James Marsh, and Kieron Moore (Sex Education) as the gang member Alison gets involved with, Liam Bayne. 

The supporting cast includes Andrew Scarborough (Downton Abbey), Beth Goddard (The Serpent Queen), Joe Absolom (Doc Martin), Nathan Armarkwei Laryea (The Witcher), Fifi Garfield (Deaf Funny), and Rolf Choutan, making his acting debut.

Moulton wrote four of the series' six episodes, with writers Will Truefitt and Benji Walters penning the other two. Diarmuid Goggins (Kin) and Chanya Button (World on Fire) split directing duties across the show's six episodes, with Joe Shrubb producing. Ayling-Ellis and Moulton executive produce alongside Bryony Arnold & Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen and Robert Schildhouse & Stephen Nye for BritBox.

Code of Silence will premiere on ITV1 and ITVX in the U.K. on Sunday, May 18, 2025, and air weekly through mid-June. It will follow on BritBox in the U.S. and Canada in the second half of the year.