Code of Silence (2025) – The Dangerous Journey of a Lip Reader

Code of Silence is a six-part crime thriller, scheduled to air on 18 May 2025 on ITV1 and ITVX. The series, written by Catherine Moulton, explores the themes of crime, communication and representation, with a diverse cast.

The story revolves around Alison Brooks (played by Rose Ayling-Ellis), a deaf cafeteria worker working for the police department. Thanks to her excellent lip reading ability, she accidentally discovers a robbery plot by a dangerous gang. The police department quickly takes advantage of Alison’s ability, pulling her into a secret mission to track down the criminals.

However, things get complicated when Alison begins to feel attracted to one of the suspects. This pushes her into a spiral of lies and danger, forcing her to face the fragile line between duty and emotion.

– Cover-Up and Concealment

When Alison begins to develop feelings for one of the suspects, she unintentionally lets her emotions get the best of her and begins to hide information from her colleagues:

Underreporting: Even though she has read conversations related to the robbery, she may choose to withhold some details to protect the person she has feelings for.

False reporting: She may deliberately downplay the seriousness of some conversations so that the suspect does not come under too much suspicion.

– Conflict and Loyalty

Despite knowing that she is making an ethical mistake, Alison is torn between her duty as a police officer and her personal feelings:

Fear of being discovered: She lives in constant fear that if the police find out that she is hiding the truth, she will lose her job and even be prosecuted.

Love or Duty: As the day of the robbery approaches, Alison must confront the question of whether she can betray her feelings and report everything accurately to the police.

– Self-Deception and Cover-Up

To avoid suspicion, Alison must act like a devoted partner, while internally, she is constantly struggling with her conscience.

Justifying her actions: She convinces herself that the suspect she has feelings for is probably innocent or was forced to participate.

Erasing traces: Sometimes, she may actively falsify information, edit reports, or make ambiguous statements to mislead the investigation.

Cast:
In addition to Rose Ayling-Ellis, the film also features Charlotte Ritchie, Andrew Buchan, and Kieron Moore.

Highlights:

Exploring the topic of deaf people’s lip-reading ability in the criminal world.

The psychological complexity of Alison as she confronts loyalty and temptation.

The storytelling is tense, authentic and emotional.

Code of Silence promises to be a new experience, with a special emphasis on diversity and representation in the modern crime genre.

When and where can I watch it?

The Code of Silence is coming to ITV1 and ITVX from Sun 18 May, until then check out the trailer below to wet your whistle.