DDN

Making great British TV drama is an uphill struggle. Yet Code of Silence is a reminder that, if there’s a smart idea on the table, winning a commission can be a doddle. After the pitch, it took just eight hours for ITV to come back to Mammoth Screen with a “yes”.

“Polly Hill [Head of Drama] and Kevin Lygo [Managing Director, Media and Entertainment] saw immediately that this was a new and arresting way to tell a contemporary story,” says Damien Timmer, Chief Creative Officer and founder of Mammoth Screen, a subsidiary of ITV Studios.

In the programme, Rose Ayling-Ellis (EastEnders) will be introducing British Sign Language to the residents of Hughenden Gardens Retirement Village. Made with help from experts, the show will feature students as old as 95. They will learn alongside small children, which whom they’ll exchange notes on what scares and inspires them. The pensioners will also experience a Deaf Rave, all the while Rose works to expose the lack of provision for deaf people beyond a certain age.