Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change

Rose Ayling-Ellis is used to breaking down boundaries. She was the first-ever deaf person to play a regular character on EastEnders and, in 2021, became the first deaf contestant – and eventually, winner – on Strictly Come Dancing.

While her success may be celebrated as a sign that TV and society are becoming more inclusive, it seems that Ayling-Ellis would be among the first to point out that there’s still a long way to go.

In fact, it seems she thinks even her own TV work has sometimes fallen short when it comes to representing the experience of deaf people. Although she has described playing Frankie on EastEnders as a ‘huge privilege’, she has brought up some issues with some of the scripts she has been given by hearing writers.

Speaking at last year’s Edinburgh International TV Festival, she said: “They will write my characters who are in a room with a big group of people arguing with each other, following everything that is being said and even repeating things back to them.

“Or they will write my character as lipreading someone from impossibly far away – like I have a superpower, which is not realistic at all!”

Now though, she’s getting a chance to put across a different picture of the deaf community. Commissioned last year in the wake of the announcement that British Sign Language is now officially recognised in law, it sees Rose exploring the challenges, discrimination and barriers that are still faced by deaf people.

The actress says: “This documentary will be real, emotional and hard-hitting, and it is high time that the realities of deaf people in the UK were shared with a wider audience. My hope is to encourage people to look at our attitude as a society and to reflect on how we can improve the lives of deaf people.

“It will not paint me as an inspiration, but will instead lift the lid on the gritty stuff that we desperately need to confront.”

Filmed over a period of time which sees her performing Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the documentary finds Rose challenging the perception of deafness as something that needs to be ‘cured’.

She meets with MP Rosie Cooper, whose parents were both deaf, to discuss some of the misconceptions surrounding the issue and whether attitudes are capable of changing.

As she reflects on her own experiences growing up, Rose speaks to her parents about the advice they were given following her diagnosis and asks if anything has changed for deaf youngsters now.

With the help of expert Dr Kate Rowley, she learns more about her own language abilities, which raises questions about the role of sign language in the actress’s formative years.

Rose is introduced to Katie and her son Alvie, who were advised not to learn sign language and who has since started a petition to encourage the UK government to make it more accessible, and also learns about the growing role that technology plays in the lives of deaf people.

However, this leads Rose to question whether the hearing world is focusing too much on potential fixes and not enough on encouraging signing.