The real-life deaf FBI agent who inspired a gripping crime drama is back in the spotlight as the series returns to UK screens after more than two decades. The US thriller series Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye, which follows deaf agent Sue Thomas through her career with the FBI, is making a nostalgic comeback on Freeview channel Great Mystery this month.
Created by Dave Alan Johnson and Gary R. Johnson, the series originally aired from October 13, 2002, until its third and final series in May 2005. The show draws themes from the real-life cases of Sue Thomas, a deaf woman whose exceptional lip-reading skills earned her a role on a top-tier FBI surveillance team.
Early Life and Challenges
Sue Thomas was born in Boardman, Ohio on May 24, 1950, and died on December 13, 2022, at the age of 72. At just 18 months old, she became profoundly deaf for reasons that were never fully determined. At school, she faced numerous hurdles due to her disability and was placed in what she called 'the dummy class.'
'I just didn't talk funny. I was now the dummy,' she said during a talk in 2010. Sue recalled standing up to introduce herself to her class, opening her mouth to speak, and the entire room erupting in laughter. For 12 years, she was too scared to open her mouth at school. However, through working with a speech therapist, Sue learned to speak. By placing her hands on her therapist's throat, she could feel the vibrations in her neck and imitate them while watching in a mirror to shape her mouth correctly. Years of speech therapy followed, then voice lessons to make her voice rise and fall naturally, and dramatic reading for articulation.
FBI Career
In 1979, Sue became the first deaf person ever recruited to the highly renowned American intelligence and security service. She initially worked as a fingerprint examiner, which she described as 'incredibly boring.' One day, agents working on a surveillance case came to her because the sound mechanism on their camera had failed, and they had footage of suspects talking but could not hear a word. They asked whether Sue could lip-read the tape, so she wrote down all she saw. After that, she never returned to fingerprinting.
In her new role, Sue gained the iconic title of 'the secret weapon of the FBI,' working for four years between 1979 and 1983. She was drafted in to lip-read suspects from long distances, such as across an airport, and take notes of conversations during illicit deals. Other cases included positioning herself on rooftops with binoculars to view suspects' lips from afar, producing transcripts of what they said. Throughout her extraordinary career, Sue mainly worked on white-collar cases, including drug-related crimes, embezzlement, and financial offences.
The TV Series
Sue went on to write her autobiography, Silent Night, which inspired the TV series. In the much-loved show, Sue herself was portrayed by actress Deanne Bray, who later starred in Law and Order and Grey's Anatomy. Speaking about Sue, Deanne said: 'She really shifted my perspective about how a deaf person can make a choice on how they want to navigate this world.' When Sue first met Deanne in person, she looked the actress up and down and said simply: 'The new and improved Sue Thomas.' Bray was taken aback, but the two hit it off immediately.
Sue also appeared twice in the series across its 56-episode run, in the episode 'Billy the Kid' and the series finale 'Ending and Beginnings,' as a consultant fittingly named Deanne. The show came to an abrupt end after the network PAX decided to no longer produce original programming after three seasons.
Cast and Characters
Sue's best friend and roommate in the series was Lucy Dotson, who offered constant support and encouragement throughout their cases. The character was played by Canadian actress Enuka Okuma, who recently starred in the award-winning medical drama The Pitt. The cast also included Marc Gomes, who has appeared in The X-Files and Dexter, playing surveillance specialist Dimitrius Gans.
Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye returns to UK screens on May 1st on Great Mystery, available on Freeview Channel 50 and via the Great Player.
