Code of Silence is a 2025 British crime drama television series for ITVX starring Rose Ayling-Ellis, Andrew Buchan and Charlotte Ritchie about a deaf civilian volunteering to help police with her lip reading skills. It was renewed for a second series later that year.
Set in Canterbury, Alison Woods is working in the canteen of a police station. She is deaf, and a team of police detectives, led by Detective Inspector James Marsh, bring her in to assist in a criminal investigation as an emergency lip reader.[1] The police are using covert surveillance cameras to observe a criminal gang who are plotting a jewellery heist. Accompanied by Detective Sergeant Ashleigh Francis, Alison observes the gang in a public bar, and using her lip-reading skills, Alison is able to unravel the plot.
Alison discovers that a younger member, Liam Barlow, has been recruited by the gang as a security hacker to bypass the security systems at the jewellery vault. After a disagreement with the police team, Alison takes a bar job at the pub frequented by the gang, placing herself in an unauthorised undercover operation. There, she becomes romantically attached to Liam, who takes her on a romantic weekend at a country park hotel. There, Liam observes a wealthy businessman and his family, the targets of the planned robbery. Liam grows suspicious of Alison and hacks her hearing aids via her smartphone, which leads him to discover that she is a police informant. The heist goes ahead – not at the vault, as anticipated, but at the hotel. During the robbery, one of the police detectives is shot. Liam betrays the gang and attempts to make off with the jewellery by himself, offering to take Alison and her mother to live abroad with the proceeds. Braden Moore, the gang leader, uncovers Alison's police involvement and takes her hostage, forcing Liam to hand over the jewels. Liam has contacted the police, who rescue Alison and arrest Liam and the other gang members. Liam stands trial and is sentenced to imprisonment, but promises to come back for her, using his newly acquired sign language skill. DI Marsh congratulates Alison and offers her a training course in becoming an official investigative lip-reader for the police.[2][3]
Alison Woods works as a server in the canteen at the police station. DS Ashleigh Francis asks Alison to use her lip reading skills to help with the investigation of gang of thieves.
A pub in Hemel Hempstead was used for exterior scenes at The Canterbury TapLocation filming took place at Watford Police Station
The series is written by Catherine Moulton and was commissioned by ITVX in May 2023.[4] It is produced by Mammoth Screen for ITVX, and ITV Studios are distributing internationally. The cast is led by Rose Ayling-Ellis, Charlotte Ritchie and Andrew Buchan.[5] The six-part series has Diarmuid Goggins as lead director. Tom Leggett and Damien Timmer are executive producers for Mammoth Screen, alongside Moulton and Ayling-Ellis.[6][7]
It was renewed for a second series in July 2025.[11]
Broadcast
The series became available on 18 May 2025 on ITVX in the United Kingdom. It began airing on 24 July 2025 on BritBox in North America.[12][13]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating based on 23 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Rose Ayling-Ellis is terrific in Code of Silence, a sharp crime drama given an compelling wrinkle by its credible depiction of the deaf perspective."[14] On Metacritic the series scored 80 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "Generally Favorable".[15]
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph awarded the show four stars and praised the performance of Rose Ayling-Ellis in the lead role, as well as the pacing of the series and the tension it created on the viewer.[16]Lucy Mangan in The Guardian also awarded the show four stars out of five and praised Ayling-Ellis, calling the show a "triumph".[17] Carol Midgely in The Times praised the script which "is written from experience and with veracity" and results in "a fresh, original drama that has done the near impossible and given us a cop drama with something new to say".[18]
Accolades
The series was nominated for New Drama with Rose Ayling-Ellis nominated for Performance in a Drama at the National Television Awards.[19]
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