The provision of in-vision sign language interpreters in television drama is growing area of demand in the UK. The advent of digital television has led to an increase in the number of programmes and channels available to the viewing public. This, coupled with the requirements of the Communications Bill (2003), the Broadcasting Act (1996) (OPSI), and the Code on Television Access Services (Ofcom), and that five per cent of digital, terrestrial, cable and satellite output must be accessible to Deaf viewers through sign language presentation or in-vision interpreting, means that there is a continuing demand for British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters working in the audiovisual medium – the field of audiovisual translation (AVT). Sign language interpreters face unique challenges in providing the interpretation of a television drama. In British television drama, the in-vision interpreter is traditionally placed, from the viewer’s perspective, in the lower right-hand corner of the screen and framed in a fixed mid-shot. The interpreter is responsible for the delivery of the interpretation of the programme from English to BSL. This responsibility includes ‘playing’ all characters and usually being on screen and visible for the duration of the entire programme. This contribution explores firstly the interpreter’s role in assisting the audience in negotiating the interactions of the competing visual images. Secondly, it highlights the author’s own research evidence that interpreters are failing in this task. Thirdly, it aims to identify how this situation has arisen. Finally, the contribution explores how an interpreter’s rendition can use the programme’s visual structure, and how in-vision interpreters can become an additional element in the semiotic web of the drama.