Deaf people to be given power to hear live on television

A CHANNEL 4 documentary will broadcast live the moment that a group of deaf people are given the power of hearing for the first time.

The programme, part of the channel’s Cutting Edge series, will follow a group of profoundly deaf people who are preparing to undergo surgery to have cochlear implants fitted.

Each of the participants will have a miniature electronic device fitted, replicating the function of their damaged inner ear, but the implants will not be activated until the cameras are rolling.

The broadcaster is thought to have developed the idea after studying a number of viral internet videos showing patients hearing for the first time. One YouTube video, showing a woman bursting into tears after her cochlear implants were activated, has drawn more than five million viewers.

A spokesman for Channel 4 said: “In a major departure from traditional documentary-making, in which the subject is often subject to many hours of detailed fine editing, this film will be a live hour of documentary television, with this major life-altering event revealed in real-time.”

The Cutting Edge series will also include a film in which David Baddiel, the comedian, and his brother Ivor chronicle the life of their father, who suffers from an extreme form of dementia known as Pick’s Disease, which strips sufferers of their inhibitions.

Other documentaries in the series will include The Great British Skinny Dip, which will follow a group of naturists trying to organise a weekend of naked swimming, a documentary set inside a provincial American gun shop and another on the life of police negotiators working to stop people committing suicide.