Catherine Moulton

Rose Ayling-Ellis, who played Frankie Lewis in EastEnders, became a household name after winning Strictly Come Dancing as the show’s first deaf contestant. Fresh from presenting the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, now she is breaking more ground in a fascinating lead role: a deaf canteen worker whose lip-reading skills draw her into a high-stakes police investigation.

Ayling-Ellis won the dancing competition during her stint as Frankie Lewis in EastEnders, the first ever deaf character in the soap. She also helped launch a deaf Barbie doll late last year.

She is now getting back to work on the small screen. Code of Silence follows Alison (Ayling-Ellis), who is struggling to get by working in a police canteen and a local bar whilst caring for her mother, who is also hearing-impaired.