Ivan Radford | On 26, May 2025

From Reunion to Doctor Who, Rose Ayling-Ellis is having a moment right now – and Code of Silence cements her as one of the most skilled and empathetic actors working right now.

The EastEnders and Strictly star stars in ITV’s thriller as Alison, a woman who works in a police canteen. Having registered her skills at lip-reading in a pool of community volunteer resources, the police approach her to help them in an investigation – with all their officiall ip-readers unavailable, they need someone who can look at covert video footage of a gang talking and work out what they’re saying. Alison jumps at the chance to be of use, promised that she’ll work remotely from a screen, kept safe from harm at a distance from the actual events. Of course, that’s not what happens and things get more complicated – and part of the show’s brilliance is that this is driven by Alison as much is it by anyone else.

“You get a lot of regrets in this job. I don’t want you to be one of them,” warns DI James Marsh (a brooding Andrew Buchan), who is reluctant to use Alison but has no choice. DS Ashley Francis (Charlotte Ritchie) is more willing to take the risk, but soon realises that Alison – a civilian with no police training – might be a loose cannon they’ve just inadvertently lit.

Alison soon learns that the gang is planning a jewellery heist based out of a pub. When the footage the police are getting of their meetings isn’t clear enough, she positions herself closer to the action, getting a job in their local boozer. Sure enough, she strikes up a flirtatious relationship with Liam (Kieron Moore), the newest member of the gang – never mind the fact that the pub is run by criminal Braden Moore (Joe Absolom), and that Alison has a clingy ex, Eithan (Rolf Choutan), following her about.

What ensues is a classic tale of an innocent onlooker being drawn into a web of danger and deceit, but Code of Silence injects a fresh slice of suspense by rooting it in Alison’s character. Where other shows in the past might have had her as a bystander with no control over events, writer Catherine Moulton gives Alison agency at every turn. Moulton has previous on Hijack and The Stolen Girl and is brilliant at ramping up tension through the sheer precision of pacing each new plot twist. But she also draws on her own experience of hearing loss to match that skill with observations and details that have an impactful authenticity.

From the off, things are told largely from Alison’s point of view – and, in some of the best sequences, her literal perspective, as director Diarmuid Goggins (Kin) shows us on-screen titles that are gradually deciphered from blurred jumbles of letters into actual words, putting us in the shoes of Alison as she deduces what people are saying. It’s half lip-reading, half reading the person themselves and understanding the context of each exchange – so, while the police want to keep Alison at a distance, she wants to know more about Liam and the gang to do her work better.

That’s only part of her motivation, though, and Moulton’s script beautifully digs into the nuances of Alison’s personality and behaviour. Living at home with her mum, Julie (Fifi Garfield), she’s worried about the redevelopment of their housing estate and keen to make sure she’s financially stable – ironically, her extra shifts of police work mean they both miss a residents’ meeting, which makes them feel even more out of the loop of what’s going on. (One lovely touch in their home life is Alison getting bored and refusing to watch TV becuase the subtitles are too slow.)

She’s also excited by the notion of getting involved with something secretive – her enthusiastic reaction to the codenames used for the criminals, including Hulk and Cruella, is adorable. And she has the thrill of a fledgling romance with Liam. Kieron Moore, who has recently appeared in The Sandman, Sex Education and Masters of the Air, delivers a breakout turn here that cements him as a young actor with charisma and vulnerability – he’s as suspicious of Alison as he is drawn to her, and their chemistry is properly sparky.

This is undoubtedly Rose Ayling Ellis’s show, though, and she is an effervescent screen presence. She lights up the material with her openness, juggling frustration, attraction, perserverance and excitement often all at once. But she brings out most of all Alison’s determination not to be overlooked – her lip-reading gig gives her a rare opportunity to prove that she’s important, and her earnest desire to make the most of it and crack the case, even though it’s not her job, pushes her further and further into dangerous waters. She tells her boss at the pub that she likes the names of craft beer because they’re unique and easy to lip-read – it’s true, but still doesn’t mean that she’s the most informed person in the room there.

That underdog spirit makes her an immediately endearing person to root for – something that’s even more impressive given that (as Eithan’s presence hints) she has a track record of making bad decisions. The result is a gripping and riveting crime drama that finds fresh territory to explore just by remembering to stay character-driven throughout. You’ll never look at subtitles in the same way again.

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