JDA_Magazine_PaperTurn_Sept 2025 - Flipbook - Page 22
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IT’S GREAT TO SEE SO MANY DEAF PEOPLE ON TV!
Ruth Steiner writes:
Recently, there have
been many more Deaf
people on mainstream
television. We have
seen two dramas,
Reunion and Code of
Silence, the two-part
documentary Old Hands, New Tricks (which
featured a visit to JDA!) and The Paralympics with
Rose Ayling-Ellis as one of the presenters.
I also watched the BBC’s Deaf crime drama series
Reunion starring Matthew Gurney and also
featuring Rose Ayling-Ellis. It was really gripping!
It was fully Deaf in BSL with subtitles for hearing
people.
Matthew plays Daniel Brennan, a Deaf man wrongly
sent to prison. When he is suddenly freed, he seeks
revenge, but things take a twisted turn.
I thought Code of Silence got o昀昀 to a slow start,
but then things started to heat up and it became
very dramatic and exciting. Rose Ayling-Ellis
played a Deaf woman with good speech and who
was very skilled at lipreading. She was helping the
police to solve a crime, and her life became more
and more complicated as she got involved.
A lot of deaf people rely on lipreading in daily life.
I thought this was well re昀氀ected, but it did make
lipreading look rather easy compared to real life!
Overall, this tense six-part drama did a great job
of demonstrating the struggles and skills of Deaf
people and people with hearing loss. (You can
watch the series on catch up at ITVX).
The ending was very good and sad. The
programme gave hearing people an insight into
Deaf culture, showing families and friends meeting
up which is very common. It also recounted tales
of Deaf school, the big part this often plays in Deaf
people’s lives and how Deaf people usually remain
friends for a long time after leaving school. (You
can watch the series on BBC IPlayer).
Matthew Gurney visited JDA a while back and gave
an entertaining talk about his work as an actor.
It’s great to see how his career has blossomed.
He won an award for Best Actor at the Italian
Global Series Festival for his role in Reunion.
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JDATogether — Issue 51 — September 2025
