Rose Ayling-Ellis is on a dangerous mission in Code Of Silence

On the outside it looks as if Alison Brooks (Rose Ayling-Ellis) is just like anyone else. However, simmering beneath the surface of her unassuming demeanour is a smart and tenacious deaf woman who has spent years secretly observing her colleagues’ conversations in a police canteen.

One day her masterful lip-reading catches the attention of DS Ashleigh Francis (Charlotte Ritchie, You) and DI James Marsh (Andrew Buchan, Black Doves) who offer her a life-changing proposition – to use her skills for good and help bring down a network of dangerous criminals from the inside. But soon Alison finds herself forming an unlikely bond with gang recruit Liam Barlow (Kieron Moore, Vampire Academy) and she slips deeper into a world of high-stakes heists. We’re hooked already.

The brainchild of award-winning screenwriter Catherine Moulton (Baptiste, The Stolen Girl), who drew on her own experiences of hearing loss and lip-reading, Code Of Silence is set to be an exhilarating watch that combines the traditional elements of the thriller genre with a fresh take on the intersection of crime and communication.

With a talented cast and crew – including many from the deaf, disabled and neurodiverse communities – behind the series and Ayling-Ellis at the centre of the fray, we’ll be counting down the days until Sunday 18 May when Code Of Silence premieres at 9pm on ITV1 HD (CH 103) and in Apps > ITVX.

It’s hard to remember a time when Ayling-Ellis wasn’t lighting up our world with her phenomenal talents. From scooping Strictly’s glitterball trophy as the competition’s first-ever deaf contestant and presenting the 2024 Paralympic Games, to a Laurence Olivier Award-nominated stage career and helping develop the first Barbie with hearing aids, Ayling-Ellis’ star power has been on a meteoric rise for years and shows no signs of slowing down.

And she’s set to break more ground as the lead of Code Of Silence and, soon, as deaf reporter Tuva Moodyson in the TV adaption of Will Dean’s crime novel Dark Pines – we just can’t get enough of her on our screens. Check out where you can catch Ayling-Ellis now as we round up some of her best TV roles to date, and read on for more intel about Code Of Silence.

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In 2020 Ayling-Ellis made her primetime telly debut as Frankie Lewis, the estranged daughter of Mick Carter who got up to plenty of mischief in Albert Square before departing the series. Fun fact: in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, Ayling-Ellis discovered that her great-great-great-grandmother owned a pub and likened the experience to her character’s time serving pints at the Queen Vic.

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Any British actor worth their salt has appeared in Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson’s popular whodunnit comedy, and Ayling-Ellis joined the rabble in the 2023 Christmas special. She starred as Catherine, an “unnerving presence who carries a warning” for the supersleuthers as they tried to solve a series of festive murders just in time for Christmas dinner.

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Ludwig, the fiendish mystery series starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin, premiered last year to rave reviews. Ayling-Ellis took on a guest spot alongside other TV legends including Derek Jacobi and Karl Pilkington. In the series’ fifth episode she played faculty member Ms Freya Chordwell as the team investigated the suspicious death of a headteacher.

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Ayling-Ellis melted hearts across the nation when she embarked on a bold mission by teaching British Sign Language (BSL) to the residents of Hughenden Gardens Village retirement home. The heartwarming results still leave a lump in our throat just thinking about it…

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In this year’s second season of the revamped Doctor Who series, Ayling-Ellis joined Ncuti Gatwa on an out-of-this-world adventure in “The Well” as Aliss Fenly, the only surviving inhabitant of Colony Base 15. Showrunner Russell T Davies later described it as “one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made.”

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Ayling-Ellis gave a standout performance in William Mager’s revenge thriller as Miri, a daughter who’s desperate to find out the truth about her mother’s relationship with a newly released prisoner. Reflecting on the bilingual series Ayling-Ellis said, “In my experience, a deaf writer of a TV drama has rarely happened, ever… I just felt that I had to be involved.”

Joining Ayling-Ellis, Ritchie, Buchanan and Moore in the cast are Nathan Armarkwei Laryea (The Witcher), Joe Absolom (Doc Martin), Beth Goddard (The Serpent Queen), Andrew Scarborough (Emmerdale) and Fifi Garfield (Coffee Morning Club). Deaf TNT Sports presenter Rolf Choutan is making his acting debut, while comedian John Bishop – whose son is deaf – also appears.

Before screenwriter Catherine Moulton penned the original series Code Of Silence, she’d written for the likes of Baptiste, Then You Run and Hijack. She recently adapted Alex Dahl’s novel Playdate into domestic thriller The Stolen Girl, starring Denise Gough, Ambika Mod and Holliday Grainger which launched on Disney+ last month. Diarmuid Goggins (The Night Caller, Kin) and Chanya Button (Doctor Who, The Killing Kind) share directing duties.

Code Of Silence’s production company Mammoth Screen is behind well-loved ITV series Tom Jones, The Tower, Endeavour and McDonald & Dodds, as well as other big-name shows like Poldark, Agatha Raisin, The Serpent, Victoria, World On Fire and Vanity Fair. So, you know already that you’re in good hands.

While producers have remained tight-lipped about the show’s setting, Ayling-Ellis was spotted filming last year around the historic city of St Albans in Hertfordshire.

You can watch the first episode of Code Of Silence from 9pm on Sunday 18 May on ITV1 HD (CH 103). The series will be available to stream from Sunday 18 May in Apps > ITVX.