| Hear no evil
A deaf girl is thrust into the hearing world – with terrifying consequences. A deaf girl witnesses a murder in a new four-part thriller, The Silence, showing this week on BBC1. Having recently been fitted with a cochlear implant, 18 year old Amelia Edwards (newcomer Genevieve Barr, who is deaf in real life) is struggling to adjust to life in the hearing world. But while staying with her uncle Jim, played by Primeval’s Douglas Henshall and her aunt Maggie (Derval Kerwin) Amelia’s life is turned upside down... Key witness Amelia is walking the family’s dog when it runs off into the woods. She goes after it and, unseen among the trees, she sees policewoman Jane Shirley being brutally killed. When Jim is assigned to the case, traumatised Amelia wants to retreat back into her silent world – but she knows she has to tell her uncle what she’s seen, Jim wants to protect his niece and when she identifies a police officer as one of the killers, he worries for her safety. But keeping her sectert could jeopardise his job and put his whole family at risk... ‘Jim is a workaholic and not really around for his family, but once we discover who the murderer is he’s faced with a moral dilemma,’ says Douglas. ‘Should he expose his own niece for the good of the investigation – a decision that may put her in more danger?’ As the story unfolds, their lives become, embroiled in a disturbing world of police corruption, drugs and betrayal. ‘Ultimately, the murder brings then together,’ reveals Douglas, ‘and both Jim and Amelia realise that family is more important than anything else.’ Whats on TV magazine July 10th-16th 2010 |