Emma Bowler reports for Broadcast Now on the growing number of programmes about and featuring disabled people.Traditionally the UK TV industry has not covered itself in glory when it comes to on screen opportunities for disabled people. Over the last year however TV screens have been positively bursting with disabled people. Could it be that programme makers are finally starting to crack the disability conundrum?
2008 saw a range of disability focused programming. In addition to the BBC's coverage of the Beijing Paralympics, these included Across the Andes: Beyond Boundaries on BBC1 and 2, in which ten disabled teenagers undertook the journey of a life time travelling across the Andes; Britain's Missing Top Model which aired on BBC3, in which eight young disabled women competed to win a photoshoot and appear in a top fashion magazine and Jess: My New Face, a BBC3 documentary about 17-year-old Jess Lee, who was born with a facial disfigurement as a result of a condition called Apert Syndrome.
Mainstream series on C4 such as Big Brother and Wife Swap also featured disabled participants, while disabled contributors and talent made incidental appearances in EastEnders, Deal Or No Deal, The Secret Millionaire, The F Word, Banged Up and Ski Sunday, to name a few examples.Big Brother probably wins the prize of inclusive series of the year.
Damon Rose, blind Editor of the BBC disability website, OUCH!, says, "I was bowled over when a blind person (Michael Hughes "Mikey", pictured) appeared… but then 10 minutes later another disabled person (Darnell Swallow – who is also visually impaired as a result of albinism) appeared in the house too! I nearly burst!" Ross Macfadyen, RNIB's Insight Radio manager says, "Mikey proved blindness was no barrier to being a housemate. He's also increased understanding of the challenges blind people experience, as well as what they can achieve."
Certainly some broadcasters are making increased efforts to include disabled contributors but others are still lagging behind. Jonathan Kaye, former Ofcom Advisory Committee on Older & Disabled People member says, "What needs
to happen next is for the more commercial broadcasters to realise that the 10 million disabled people in the UK, with annual spending power of £80 billion, are a commercial market of consumers waiting to be untapped."
Alison Walsh, editorial manager, disability C4 says: "We've come from having so few disabled people on screen that I'd say, at this point, more is better. Some programmes will get it right, some won't. The important thing is that the person must feel right for the programme, we don't want programme makers to put disabled people on programmes just to tick boxes."
Fear is probably the number one barrier preventing programme makers from embracing the idea of using disabled contributors/talent. However the good news is that, as a result of the recent crop of disabled focused programming, there are an increasing number of programme makers who can dispel the myths and provide encouragement to other producers considering using disabled contributors.
While the doomsayers said this trend towards featuring disabled contributors would fall off following the Paralympics, others are more optimistic. Clare Morrow, manager of Broadcasting & Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN) says, "We're set to hold a series of events bringing together senior programme decision makers and disabled employees, contributors and viewers to talk about achieving better on-screen portrayal of disabled people across different programming genres. We're hopeful that they will prove a real spark for some new thinking, building on successes so far."
BCIDN is also targeting newsroom staff, an area where incidental use of disabled contributors and talent is rare. Whether TV news will increase its use of disabled contributors and reporters remains to be seen but there is definitely hope elsewhere that the disabled presence on TV is here to stay. Alison Walsh, C4, says: "We've just cast a deaf lad in Shameless and a wheelchair user in Hollyoaks – these are real breakthroughs, with the potential, like Mikey on Big Brother, to change the way people think about disability. But we'll only taste real victory when this sort of thing happens so often that it no longer feels remarkable."
Hilary Salmon, senior executive producer BBC in-house drama, says programme makers avoid using disabled talent because, "There is a fear, fear of saying the wrong thing or of not being able to communicate for example with deaf people or those with cerebral palsy with unclear speech, so people would rather just avoid it."
No stranger to using disabled talent Hilary is enthusiastic about encouraging others to follow suit, "I'd say use disabled talent because it will make your programmes better not because you feel you ought to. It's not always easy because there's a relatively small pool of talent who don't have as much experience, yet. But there are some incredibly good actors out there."
While programme makers may worry disabled contributors mean greater costs, more work and complicated access requirements Steve Kidgell, series editor Britain's Missing Top Model, says, "The thing we were most concerned about getting wrong was the idea that people would consider it a freak show. But as far as working with disabled contributors there were elements of health and safety which meant a little bit of extra legwork, but not that much really."
He adds, "I'd wholeheartedly encourage people to take in more disabled people into the everydayness of the programmes they are making. I'd ask those who are sceptical about the idea to lose that scepticism and those who have never done it before to do it – you'll be amazed and fascinated by what disabled contributors can bring to your production."
