Yellow Bird UK & Hot Coals Adapting Silent Book Series for TV

Yellow Bird UK, part of Banijay UK, and Hot Coals Productions have signed a deal to develop and co-produce an adaptation of Nell Pattison’s series of books—The Silent House, Silent Night and The Silent Suspect.

The best-selling novels center on British Sign Language interpreter Paige Northwood and her Deaf sister as they solve crimes that happen within the Deaf community. Screenwriter Glen Laker is attached as showrunner for the adaptation.

“This is an incredibly important and exciting project for us, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Clare-Louise and Jo at Hot Coals,” said Berna Levin, creative director for Yellow Bird UK. “With the Deaf community at the heart of these books, it will allow us to bring underrepresented talent in the TV industry to the forefront—both in front and behind the scenes.”

Clare-Louise English and Jo Sargeant of Hot Coals Productions, commented, “So often on TV and film, a Deaf character is parachuted into a hearing story, with no other Deaf people around them. With these stories set firmly within the Deaf community, it gives us an opportunity to show the breadth of Deafness and the huge variation in lived experiences. From the moment we read Nell’s books, we knew we had to make them into a TV series, and we are so excited to be partnering with Yellow Bird, who understand the importance of representation.”

“I’m thrilled that Yellow Bird UK and Hot Coals Productions will be working together on this project, and I’m excited to see their vision for bringing my novels to the screen,” Pattison said. “As Clare-Louise is the primary narrator for the audiobooks of these novels, I feel she knows the characters as well as I do, so I know they’re in safe hands.”

Laker added, “It is a privilege to be working with Yellow Bird UK and Hot Coals in bringing Nell’s timely, thrilling novels to the screen. Deafness has always played an important role in my family. My youngest son is Deaf, so representation of the culture in TV and film has become a personal pursuit. I have been fortunate to write Deaf characters into episodes of Vera, The Good Karma Hospital and The Chelsea Detective. On the Silent series, I am looking forward to working with Deaf talent in the writers’ room. Together, we will create a gritty, compulsive thriller that I believe all audiences will tune into.”