The Silence: Episode 1

Event television has been a feature of our viewing habits ever since television itself was the event. Back in the 1970s, holiday weekends would be given over to TV movies, while the 1980s would have several telethons in a month. The 2000s had reality television and talent shows, and more recently, we’ve had dramas that have been stripped over each night of a single week (Five Days, Torchwood: Children Of Earth, Collision, Criminal Justice).

In some ways, this could be considered a counteractive measure - there’s quite enough pull on our attention without expecting us to devote a week of summer evenings to following the twists and turns of a murder investigation.

But, for the most part, it’s a gamble that seems to pay off, leading to that all too rare thing these days: television that can be discussed around the mythical water cooler, without having to fire up the iPlayer just because someone else might blurt out a spoiler. Now that the schedules no longer have to worry about a sporting tournament, the latest of these dramas is the very good looking The Silence, centring around Amelia, a profoundly deaf girl who finds herself involved in a murder investigation and is central to the killers being found.

The debut UK project for Australian writer Fiona Seres, it’s a remarkably confident drama, with well-drawn characters. Of course, there’s newcomer Genevieve Barr as the lead character, who is herself deaf, but the support cast is portrayed with a confidence and patience rarely seen in drama. You could argue that, apart from the murder that sets things in motion, not a great deal happens in this episode, and that’s probably true - but you get the very real sense that this is less about padding out the first hour and more about allowing the characters to breathe. Gina McKee excels as Amelia’s over-protective mother, a woman who passionately and without question wants the best for her daughter and is helplessly aware that this often casts her in the role of the humourless parent who appears not to be flexible. It’s a situation that many parents watching will find painfully resonant.

Also in the mix is Dervla Kirwan, who, in most other dramas, would be reduced to brittle, nagging, neglected wife, since that’s what more than half her screentime would suggest. However, she’s allowed real warmth and sensitivity - it’s remarkable how, via things as simple as a smile, an extra word of dialogue, or a hand on someone’s shoulder, a character can be transformed from a cardboard cutout to a real human being.

Respect for the audience is displayed pretty much throughout (we see, rather than hear, for instance, that a barking dog is the main reason why our hero isn’t caught when she accidentally witnesses a horrific act and the point isn’t belaboured: it would be all too easy to miss). As befits the title, there are many moments that propel the story along that are inbetween words - witness the easy, casual way one character takes a seat recently vacated by another, a telling move that manages to be sharply subtle and screamingly obvious at the same time.

There are wobbles - we’re allowed to share Amelia’s profound deafness at times, but someone along the line evidently got nervous and requested that these moments be filled with a soft soundtrack, presumably not spotting that the best thing to represent silence is... well, you know.

This is a minor quibble, however, and indeed the only one. Otherwise, this is intelligent, compelling drama, stuffed with a good few of your favourite actors and an unfussy, elegant script. All in all, the rest of the week sounds good.



Airs at 9pm on Monday 12th July 2010 on BBC One.

Reviewed by Andrew Allen.