There is a neat trick, used sparingly but to great effect, in Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands New Tricks. According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, 80% of adults over the age of 70 will have some hearing loss. To demonstrate what this loss might be like for hearing viewers, the programme-makers amplify the background noise until it obfuscates the conversations that are taking place. The point is made simply and well.
Ayling-Ellis made her name as an actor on EastEnders, but became something of a national treasure when she won Strictly Come Dancing, as the programme’s first deaf contestant. Her sensational Couple’s Choice dance with Giovanni Pernice, in which the music cut out while the dance continued in silence, is one of the show’s all-time great moments.
In this charming, intelligent and emotional two-part documentary, she makes a hard sell for what she says is her passion project: teaching British sign language (BSL) to older people who may be struggling with hearing loss. She explains that she understands the frustration of not being able to hear what people are saying around her, and repeatedly emphasises the importance of being understood, connected and included. Sign language, she thinks, can be helpful, not just for the profoundly deaf but for people who may be losing their hearing, too. In order to test her theory, she persuades the residents of a retirement village in Buckinghamshire to embark on a pilot scheme with her.
Hughenden Gardens Village is not a regular retirement home; it’s a cool one. It looks a bit like a hot-desking office crossed with a brand new school or hospital, and there are more than 300 older people living there, with an average age of 80. One resident describes it as “a combination of a hotel and a holiday camp”, which seems about right. Ayling-Ellis is filled with enthusiasm when she arrives, but it is to the credit of this series, and the benefit of its narrative arc, that setting up BSL classes for the residents proves quite a bit trickier than she expected.
She is nervous before she delivers the pitch to residents, and fumbles it. The initial response is far from positive; one woman points out that she is 101, and therefore too old to learn new skills. Ayling-Ellis appeases her, says she isn’t. “I’m not really interested, you know,” the woman replies, not unkindly, but firmly nonetheless. Belinda, the friendly village manager, suggests that they put a six-week limit on the course. “They can be quite forgetful,” she explains.
Initial uptake for the classes is low, and the attendees are late. “They’re a tough crowd,” says Ayling-Ellis. But she is not put off, and the fact that the BSL classes take place at all are a combination of tenacity and sheer belief. She calls upon a charismatic BSL teacher, Marios Costi, to tutor them, and he proves more than up to the task. And of course, while some of the early mishaps are lightly funny, it blossoms into something beautiful and profound.
We learn more about the Hughenden residents, and their loves and losses. At times, it becomes a meditation on not just mortality, but what it means to live life with purpose and dignity, and how we might start to resist loneliness. Eric has been married to June for 69 years. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and Eric says he no longer speaks to many people because he struggles to hear in crowds. He comes out of his shell in the BSL classes, to his daughter’s astonishment.
This is more than a fairytale, however. It is nuanced and smart. Ayling-Ellis explains that she has mixed feelings about hearing aids, which many older people come to rely on; she says they are seen as a panacea, when that isn’t really the case. Learning BSL offers a more expressive way to communicate and, in turn, that reduces the risk of isolation, not feeling understood and not fitting in.
There are many moving moments in which we see the possibilities. Sue is losing her sight. She needs to learn braille, but admits she is scared that she is too old to do it. Ayling-Ellis takes her to meet Michael, who was born deaf, then lost his sight, and now communicates with hands-on signing. He tells her not to give up. I have a lump in my throat.
The wider point is that BSL can, and must, be learned by more people than those with hearing loss. Here, you see how it can spread. The village staff begin to learn it. Eric’s grandchildren show off a few words. If it works as well on everyone else as it does on me, viewers should come away with at least a few new words for themselves, too.
• Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands New Tricks aired on BBC One and is on iPlayer now.
