Cliff Notes – Code of Silence viewers blown away as ITV’s genius move makes history
- ITV’s new drama Code of Silence features a silent ad break with signed and subtitled adverts, raising awareness for the deaf community.
- Viewers praised the innovative approach, calling it a "landmark moment" in British television for inclusivity.
- Lead actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is deaf, expressed the importance of accurately portraying the challenges of lipreading in her role.
Code of Silence viewers blown away as ITV’s ‘genius’ move makes history
Viewers have been blown away by ITV’s commitment to raising awareness (Picture: ITV)
Viewers of ITV’s new drama Code of Silence have heaped praise on the broadcaster for a ‘genius’ decision.
With Rose Ayling-Ellis, Charlotte Ritchie, and Andrew Buchan among the cast, the crime drama series premiered at 9pm tonight on ITV1.
Its plot follows Alison, a deaf caterer working to support herself and her mother, who is also asked by police to help lipread conversations with highly dangerous criminals.
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 winner Rose, who was born deaf, takes the lead, with viewers having already lauded her performance with compliments after just one episode.
But there was another element of tonight’s premiere that really got people talking, and it wasn’t during the programme itself.
Ahead of the show, ITV took to X with a special message.
Code of Silence began on ITV1 tonight, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis and Charlotte Ritchie (Picture: ITV)
Tonight’s episode of Code of Silence will feature a silent ad break, where all adverts will be signed and/or subtitled and run without sound.📺 Code of Silence starts tonight at 9pm on ITV1. #CodeOfSilence
— ITV (@ITV) May 18, 2025
‘Tonight’s episode of Code of Silence will feature a silent ad break, where all adverts will be signed and/or subtitled and run without sound,’ it read.
Indeed, when the adverts started airing, the sound was muted and subtitles appeared before the show resumed.
Taking to social media in astonishment, viewers said it was a ‘superb’ way of raising awareness of what life is like for those who are deaf or hearing impaired.
‘ITV turning down the sound for the adverts during #CodeOfSilence and including subtitles and interpreters is a big, big WOW!!!’, wrote @putasinghonit.
‘Bravo @ITV’, tweeted @KDCunliffe. ‘The advert break is genius. So thought provoking.’
‘Absolute genius move @ITV’, added @hkp074. ‘Great drama so far as the audience has to watch so we don’t miss anything rather than be on our phones. Rose Ayling-Ellis is superb!’
ITV aired an ad break in total silence with subtitles (Picture: ITV)
@BritishBC also described the silent ad break as ‘very clever’, while @LolaSpaniel called it ‘such an effective and great idea’.
‘That was a landmark moment in British TV. The first time that a mainstream channel has shown Adverts in complete silence with BSL & Subtitles. I hope this raise much needed awareness within the deaf community through this drama and the silent ads moment’, agreed @RyanSoapKing25.
As Code of Silence continues each night this week, viewers are now flocking to ITVX to binge-watch all six episodes.
Fans have been impressed by the concept as a whole, given how text is used on screen throughout the episode to show Rose’s character working out the words she is lip-reading.
‘As somebody who lip reads because of a hearing impairment how they are visualising the working out of words and incorporating the uncertainty when some letters/sounds look the same – sooo accurate’, praised @gstevensonsport.
During press before Code of Silence’s release, former Eastenders star Rose admitted that it was a ‘terrifying’ challenge to take on, since it is her first lead role.
Rose, who was born deaf, was ‘terrified’ of taking on the lead role (Picture: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)
‘I felt the pressure to represent the deaf community well’ (Picture: ITV)
On what she was most excited for viewers to see, she told Country & Town House: ‘How hard lipreading is!’
‘I felt the pressure to represent the deaf community well. But I had to remind myself: this is my dream, and I’ve worked hard for it. I deserve to enjoy it too,’ she added.
The Reunion actress also spoke about being part of projects where more deaf characters feature.
‘It’s such an exciting time, and what does this mean for the future? I really hope this isn’t a one-off moment,’ she said.
‘We shouldn’t have to wait years between stories with deaf characters.’
Code of Silence is available to stream on ITVX.
