''The Silence'' is a British television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

, first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in 2010, which follows the story of a young

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

girl who witnesses a murder. The series was broadcast between 12–15 July 2010. The drama stars deaf actress Genevieve Barr in her first major role following her successful screen debut in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's '' The Amazing Dermot'', alongside

Dervla Kirwan Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish television, stage, and film actress who specializes in drama roles. She gained attention for her roles in ''Ballykissangel'', '' Goodnight Sweetheart'', and the Doctor Who Christmas special epis ...

Gina McKee Georgina "Gina" McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' ...

Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey''. His performance on the show earned him a no ...

and

Douglas Henshall Douglas “Dougie” James Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series '' Primeval'' (2007–2011) and Detective Inspect ...

. The series was also directed by

Dearbhla Walsh Dearbhla Walsh is an Irish film and television director who has worked on drama series for several television channels in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including episodes of '' EastEnders'', '' Shameless'' and ''The Tudors''. She won the 2009 ...

. The series, produced by

Company Pictures Company Pictures is an independent British television production company which has produced drama programming for many broadcasters. It was set up in 1998 by Charles Pattinson and George Faber, colleagues at BBC Films. Their first film was '' ...

, was filmed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, but set in Bristol.The Silence:Gina McKee (Anna)
7 July 2010, www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 14 July 2010.

Plot

''The Silence'' is set in and around

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, south-western England. The plot centres around Amelia, portrayed by Genevieve Barr, an eighteen-year-old struggling to integrate into a hearing world following

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for improved speech unde ...

ation, who witnesses the murder of a police officer. The subsequent investigation unravels a net of police corruption.Press Pack: The Silence
7 July 2010, www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2010. DCI Jim Edwards ( Henshall) is investigating a gang execution. His wife Maggie ( Kirwan) invites Amelia, his niece, to stay with their family for respite and to help her to hear using her recent implant. Amelia has overprotective parents, Anne and Chris ( McKee and Bonneville), and relishes the chance to party with her cousins Tom, Joel and Sophie (Ferrier, Kane and Oldfield). While there, Amelia witnesses the murder of Jane Shilladay (O'Grady), a policewoman who works for the domestic violence unit and is romantically involved with colleague and amateur boxer Rocky (

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

). By lip-reading CCTV footage, Amelia provides Edwards with a link between the two apparently unrelated murders, and recognises a member of the drug squad as one of the killers. He keeps her evidence and identity a secret in order to protect her, putting his career at risk, but their lives become endangered when he begins to unravel police corruption within the drug squad.The Silence:Episodes 1 and 2
7 July 2010, www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2010. The Edwards family becomes victimised by the drugs squad, with Jim Edwards' wife Maggie ( Kirwan) being harassed by policeman Mac (Hallett), and son Tom being framed, by Mac and Rocky, for conspiracy to deal drugs along with Ely (

Nevern Nevern ( cy, Nanhyfer) is both a parish and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The community includes the settlements of Felindre Farchog, Monington, Moylgrove and Bayvil. The small village lies in the Nevern valley near the Preseli Hills of ...

), Sophie's boyfriend.

Cast

* Genevieve Barr — Amelia Edwards *

— Anne Edwards *

— Chris Edwards *

— DCI Jim Edwards *

— Maggie Edwards *Harry Ferrier — Tom Edwards *Tom Kane — Joel Edwards *Rebecca Oldfield — Sophie Edwards *Rod Hallet — DCI Peter MacKinnon *Mark Stobbart — DI Lee Grigson * Richie Campbell — DS Rocky Smith * Del Synnott — DI Terry Johns *

David Westhead David William Logan Westhead (born 1 June 1963) is an English actor. Early life Westhead was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. He studied drama at Bristol University before going on to RADA, from where he graduated in 1987, after which he joine ...

— Superintendent Frank Evans *Eimear O'Grady — Jane Shilladay *

Jody Latham Jody Lee Latham (born 9 January 1983) is an English actor, best known for portraying the roles of Lip Gallagher in the British Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Shameless'', Calum McKenzie in the ITV drama series '' The Fixer'' and Rob Grays ...

— Gary Roach *Laura Way — Robyn Seabold *

Nick Nevern Nick Nevern (born 8 December 1980) is a British actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for his roles in Eastenders first as Rennie, then as Don , Shameless as Rogowski,and The Hooligan Factory as Dex. Early life Nevern was born an ...

— Ely *

Shazad Latif Shazad Latif (born Iqbal Amin; 8 July 1988) is a British actor, who starred as Tariq Masood in the BBC TV series '' Spooks'', Clem Fandango on '' Toast of London'', and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in ''Penny Dreadful''. In 2017, he was cast as Chi ...

— Yousef *Rebecca Dunne — Issy *Catriona Martin — Paula *Lara Steward — Maxine *

Emmet Kirwan Emmet Kirwan is an Irish people, Irish actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is known for starring in RTÉ2's Sarah & Steve and for writing and starring in the 2015 play, and 2018 movie version of ''Dublin Oldschool''. Other credits include parts ...

— Custody Officer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silence, The BBC television dramas Television shows set in Bristol 2010s British drama television series 2010 British television series debuts 2010 British television series endings Television series by All3Media 2010s British crime drama television series Television shows about deaf people