Code of Silence

I bingewatched the series over a couple of days.

The first episode was very good but then starts to slide into the same hum drum of many other dramas these days.

The premise of a deaf girl helping police in the cathedral city of Canterbury does seen rather similar to the recent Channel 4 series Patience which had an autistic girl helping police with their enquiries in the cathedral city of York a couple of months ago and it is only just over a month since Rose Ayling-Ellis appeared in Réunion on BBC 1 (she was also in Ludwig late last year set in the cathedral city of Cambridge).

You have to constantly watch the screen as there are a lot of subtitled parts but it wasn't totally engaging and really seemed to lose its way not knowing where the story was heading.

Itv's new liking for 6 part dramas can be a bit much for shows and this was no exception going on too long and included one officer having an affair which didn't really go anywhere in the story and then their was the robbery which really didn't make any practical sense.

Watchable but let's itself down.

Code of silence.

ITV can be hit or miss with its dramas but this one's a hit.

We really enjoyed Code of Silence as it was a bit different for mainstream TV. The story is good enough to justify the show and even though it has more than its fair share of 'aye right' moments it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment. The show is very well paced and there's no fillers like there are on Netflix.

Rose Ayling-Ellis holds the whole thing together brilliantly. She was absolutely convincing in her role as Alison. She's very likeable even though her character never does a thing she's told. Keiron Moore is also very convincing as Liam. All the main cast are good like Charlotte Ritchie and Andrew Buchan and all are convincing with only the odd one letting the side down. Most of the eff bombs are unnecessary and feel unnatural in places. We don't need them and British TV should not be influenced by the vulgarity plaguing US TV.

We watched on ITVX with the subtitles on even though neither of us are deaf or hard of hearing.

I hope there's a second series of this because we liked it.

Alison, a deaf working class girl is enlisted by police to read lips for a case regarding a gang of thieves and their latest caper. When she falls for one of the suspects, things get complicated. Fantastic and tense 6 part mini-series will keep you engaged the entire time. Crackerjack writing and a great performance by Rose Ayling-Ellis are the draws here. If Ellis wasn't deaf IRL i'd say she was a star in the making, but being deaf will limit the amount of roles available to her and that's a shame. COS isn't perfect there are a couple things I found to be not quite believable, but there so minor you won't mind much. I don't see a world where this doesn't at least get a couple BAFTA nods. Extremely enjoyable and highly recommended.

Detectives find themselves without an expert lip reader, urgency means they have to turn to Alison Woods, an employee at the Station canteen. The team are attempting to bring down a group of dangerous criminals, who only meet in wide open spaces, Alison prices invaluable, but things get complicated when she gets close to one of the suspects.

Code of Silence is an excellent series, if you haven't seen it yet, I'd urge you to make some time and binge watch it, it's gripping, must watch TV. It's important, amazing that we're seeing more deaf actors having central roles.

So many shows struggle to fill 6 episodes, not that case here, every episode is rich in content.

It's packed with tension and intrigue, in the first few episodes you will quite literally be on the edge of your seat, it will hold your interest from start to finish.

Rose Ayling-Ellis follows a busy spell, appearing in Dr. Who and the terrific Reunion, she puts in another superb performance here, as does Kieron Moore, who's equally good. If you haven't seen Reunion yet, I urge you to do so.

I loved it.

9/10.

Out of the 2 recent crime dramas with deaf leads, this is the better one. Code Of Silence has a far fetched premise but is so honest with it we're up for the ride. Great cast helps a lot but it's the slow building romance hiding in plain sight that makes this show a stand out. The main characters are flawed and constantly asked to question their moral compass which makes for a very fun watch. Yes the ending is very silly and unbelievable but this must be the first time a crime drama builds its storyline around a blossoming and forbidden love. Season 2 please! And with the same leads if possible!