Silence, The (BBC-1 2010, Doug Henshall, Dervla Kirwan)

In four part thriller The Silence 18 year old Amelia Edwards, born profoundly deaf, has just had a cochlear implant and for the first time is able to have some degree of hearing. She has left home and is living with her police detective Uncle Jim and Aunt Maggie, all is going well until Amelia witnesses the murder of a policewoman and quickly realises that the killer is on Jim’s work team. When Jim discovers what she knows he faces the difficult choice of keeping her and his family safe and also the uphill task of bringing the bad guy to justice.

Clever idea for a series, a plot very much like something out of one those vintage black and white Merton Park British B-movies from the 1950’s and 60’s. Casting wise the leads are all highly capable, not to say excellent but one can only wonder at the casting departments of the UK TV stations, apparently they only have six actors on their books, you can guarantee if a show doesn’t star Julie Graham then it will feature Gina McKee; and again with Hugh Bonneville, great actor but he is in every show ever made. Young actress Genevieve Barr is also profoundly deaf in real life.

Writer Seres was living in Sydney, Australia at the time she penned the drama (having worked on shows such as Tangle and Love My Way) but moved her family to the UK once the show got the go ahead.

production details
UK / BBC One – Company Pictures / 4×60 minute episodes / Broadcast Monday 12 July – Thursday 15 July 2010 @ 9.00pm

Writer: Fiona Seres / Script Editor: Charlotte Essex / Costumes: Driscoll Calder / Production Design: Susie Cullen / Music: John Lunn / Executive Producers: Charles Pattinson, George Faber, Polly Hill / Producers: Eleanor Greene, Andrew Lowe / Director: Dearbhla Walsh

cast
GENEVIEVE BARR as Ameila
DOUGLAS HENSHALL as Jim
DERVLA KIRWAN as Maggie
GINA McKEE as Annie
HUGH BONNEVILLE as Chris
HARRY FERRIER as Tom
REBECCA OLDFIELD as Sophie
TOM KANE as Joel
ROD HALLETT as Mac
RICHIE CAMPBELL as Rocky
DEL SYNNOTT as Terry
DAVID WESTHEAD as Frank
SHAZAD LATIF as Yousef
MARK STOBBART as Lee
JOSETTE SIMON as Therapist
LAURA WAY as Robyn
JODY LATHAM as Dean Roache
LARA STEWARD as Maxine
GILES ALDERSON as Andy
ALISON LINTOTT as Receptionist
EMMET COLGAN as Rocky’s Trainer
EIMEAR O’GRADY as Jane Shilliday
REBECCA DUNNE as Issy
BRODY as Himself
EMMET KIRWAN as Custody Officer
CAITRIONA MARTIN as Maxine’s Mother
CONOR MULLEN as Paul Begley
STEFAN BOOTH as Richard Gray
CATHERINE WALKER as Sarah Casey
SAMMY DOBSON as Paramedic