Sight Unseen is a Canadian-American crime drama television series created by Karen Troubetzkoy and Nikolijne Troubetzkoy and co-produced by CTV in Canada and The CW in the United States. It premiered in Canada on January 21, 2024, [1] and will premiere in the US on April 3, 2024.[2]
Premise
Tess Avery is former homicide detective who, in the middle of a case, suddenly starts losing her vision. Within days she is forced to leave her job after being diagnosed as clinically blind, due to the fast onset genetic condition Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. Through the help of her visual guide Sunny, who works for a visual assistance app, she continues to help the police department solve crimes. She tries to remain as independent as possible, while trying to navigate the world with her severe scotoma-type low vision.
Cast and Characters
Main
Dolly Lewis as Tess Avery, a former homicide detective living in Vancouver, now is a consultant and is vision impaired.
According to Dolly Lewis, she mentioned that her casting in the show was due to having severe night blindness and detaching retinas in order to give a sense of realism over Tess slowly losing her eyesight.[8]
Release
The series was ordered to series by both CTV and The CW[3][9][10] and premiered on January 21, 2024, on CTV, as a special event following that day's NFL Divisional Playoff game.[1]
The show's focus on a visually-impaired woman received some attention as a significant advance for media representation of people with disabilities, as it premiered around the same time as One More Time, a Canadian comedy series (CBC Television) about a hearing-impaired retail manager.[11]
