‘Code of Silence’ review: A deaf woman helps police crack a jewel heist

In the BritBox crime thriller Code of Silence a deaf woman working in the canteen at a police station in Canterbury England is recruited by detectives when they need someone to read lips on surveillance footage That initial premise can only take the show so far watching someone stare at a video and decipher what people are saying has limited storytelling possibilities so Code of Silence finds solutions to complicate the endeavor Alison Brooks doesn t have much excitement in her life She lives with her mother who is lovely but a little needy and she also has an ex-boyfriend who keeps showing up trying to understand why their relationship ended Both her mom and ex are deaf and there s an major intimacy that comes through in their interactions that she doesn t have with hearing people But she s also just generally bored and being looped into an inquiry is a welcome change of pace The police are watching a small group of criminals who meet in outdoor locations that can t be easily bugged Video is realizable with hidden cameras but the department s professional forensic lip-readers are busy working other cases hence the need for Alison s skills As played by Rose Ayling-Ellis Alison is an intriguing mix of naivete and risk-taking with a side order of sex appeal Majority of people underestimate her because she s deaf She s too self-confident for that but also worn down by the struggle of her working-class reality and the exciting details of the occurrence turns out they re planning a jewel heist prove too thrilling for her to ignore From left Charlotte Ritchie as detective Ashleigh Francis and Rose Ayling-Ellis as Alison Brooks in Code of Silence Samuel Dore BritBox Initially the detectives try to limit just how much Alison knows for her own protection But when she s alone she finds the group s computer hacker a guy named Liam Barlow Kieron Moore on social media With just enough information to pique her curiosity she gets a bartending job at the pub he frequents He s nice enough in a rough and tumble way and he takes a liking to her He s also charming which complicates everything Suddenly Alison finds herself functioning as an undercover informant for the police For the first time in her life people are taking her seriously Maybe that s why she s a true believer in the police in options that seem naive It makes sense that law enforcement would care about the heist but the show doesn t explore why we as viewers should agree that there s a major injustice afoot if an obnoxious rich person might be robbed of what is just one more expensive bobble in their collection Like Patience on PBS this is a British cop show that features a disabled person whose skills become an unexpected asset to police work And to Code of Silence s credit it s recounted from the point of view of Alison rather than the police Disabled actors playing disabled characters should be more commonplace generally on television but I appreciate that in these two instances they are being incorporated into a genre that has otherwise never made much room for them And the show from creator Catherine Moulton who is partially deaf herself has an intriguing way of illustrating Alison s experience lip-reading Early on as she s busing tables in the canteen she looks over and sees two people deep in conversation I m o in razee here the subtitles read Then the words adjust as Alison puts together what s being declared I m going crazy here The man continues ewe se ewe leaf im and a moment later the words on screen become You reported you would leave him This format continues throughout the series and it s an effective way of conveying specific of the guesswork involved She explains that the letters B and P and M all look the same when reading lips which is why she s initially unsure if Liam s last name is Barlow or Marlowe But also It s not just about seeing words You also need context It s who s talking and what you know of them The detectives are a mix of annoyed and concerned as Alison keeps putting her neck on the line courting danger What is she getting herself into I know what I m doing she says firmly She does not know what she s doing But she s brazen and that gets her further than anyone anticipates Code of Silence stars out of Where to watch BritBox Nina Metz is a Tribune critic