Working in the Red Bee Sign Language team, no two days are the same. One minute you might be providing live BSL on a national news broadcast, the next you are recording BSL for a ground‑breaking drama like I Hate Suzie. You may even be sharing best practices with industry colleagues as part of the DeafMedia project.

But even by these eclectic standards, certain projects still generate a little extra excitement, like when Sky approached us to provide British Sign Language for Oppenheimer.

Christoper Nolan’s multi-award-winning epic won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for its star Cillian Murphy. Little wonder Sky wanted to make it as accessible as possible for ALL their viewers and we were only too happy to help!

The film stars Cillian Murphy as the eponymous J. Robert Oppenheimer, following him from his time as a doctoral student studying quantum physics, through his role as director of the Manhattan Project during World War II, and culminates with his eventual fall from grace.

Black and white image of Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer wearing a hat and with a cigarette in his mouth.
Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer.

The film is complex in subject matter, dialogue-heavy, emotionally impactful and over three hours long, so the choice of the interpreter was key. Part of our highly skilled BSL team and an experienced television interpreter, Eddie Moriarty has covered both high-profile live events such as the King’s Coronation and subject-specific pre-recorded programmes like Panorama. This combination of skills and experience made him the perfect person for the job.

Prior to recording the BSL, Eddie familiarised himself with the complex scientific language and complicated concepts which were key to the plot to ensure the BSL conveyed these clearly, whilst also allowing his translation to reflect the emotional heft of the film to viewers.

Once all preparation had been completed, the BSL was recorded in one of our three state‑of‑the‑art signing studios in Broadcast Centre, London. The recording was done in real‑time and we simultaneously created the final signed version.

Red Bee is delighted to have worked with Sky again on another exciting project, knowing that BSL users will be able to enjoy Oppenheimer in all its glory on Sky Cinema and streaming service NOW from April 12th. 

A black and white image of men in suits from the film Oppenheimer.
The film is complex in subject matter, dialogue-heavy, emotionally impactful, and over three hours long, so the choice of the interpreter was key.

Red Bee Access provides over 3,000 hours of BSL per year in the UK, Ireland and Spain, including live signing for the BBC and UK Parliament.