From an email to Media dis&dat from Katy Lock, the series producer and director: "The online documentary series called 'The Specials' follows the ups and the downs in the lives of a group of 20-something friends with learning disabilities who share a house in Brighton, UK (4 with Downs Syndrome, 1 with Williams Syndrome). The guys are providing the voiceover to the series and so the viewer will be very much seeing the world through their eyes. It's funny, touching and honest."Here's what The Guardian said about the series in September, when it began:
Introducing The Specials, a docusoap about five housemates who live the classic student life in Brighton. If that sounds like any other predictable teen reality television show, this is a series with a difference: all five housemates have learning disabilities.
The series, which launched online Sept. 2, follows Lucy, Lewis, Sam, Megan and Hilly. Aged between 19 and 23, they have been friends since childhood. Four of them have Down's syndrome and one has Williams syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by unusual language skills.
Producer and director Katy Lock wanted to feature friends who shared the classic problems of growing up, from first love to heartbreak, finding a job to arguing over the remote. The feel of the series is described as "Friends meets Skins", and is meant to be funny, touching, honest and "definitely not worthy".
The series revolves primarily around how the friends' relationships change when Megan moves in. Megan, while dating Lewis, has to deal with the flirtatious advances of Sam, who is Lucy's ex-boyfriend. Throw in angst about the transition from college to work, and the series has all the trappings of a teenage soap opera. Initially conceived as a television show, Lock decided to launch the series on the internet after funding for the TV pilot fell through. Lock says she loved the idea so much that she could not let it go, despite the initial setback. Viewers will be able to watch the series online in weekly 10-minute episodes.
"It is interesting to see how the web works as a new medium and to see how many people it can reach with the popularity of YouTube and BBC iPlayer," Lock says. "Perhaps it can even be more far-reaching than TV, since people all over the world can watch the series."
The housemates themselves are thrilled at being given the opportunity to star in their own TV show. "I'm really excited," Hilly says. "We've grown up together and it's going to be really good for people to see our friendship."
While a support worker is stationed in the house at all times to help with tasks such as washing and cooking, the housemates are encouraged to do most things by themselves and to live as independently as possible.
Carol Williams, who runs Small Opportunities, which helps adults with learning disabilities to live independently, and is Hilly's mother, says: "It would be excellent for people to realise that they can live a life that is as mainstream as possible, and that they are capable of doing what everyone else can do."
Learning disabilities charity Mencap believes the docusoap will help people to understand what it is like to be a young person with a learning disability. Lorainne Bellamy, a Mencap spokeswoman who has a learning disability, says: "People with a learning disability have hopes and dreams for the future just like anyone else. We hope that people watch the series and get to know these five individuals, sharing their ups and downs."
