The BBC has unveiled plans to boost disability representation in 2020.
The broadcaster has announced a trio of exciting projects designed to improve the visibility of – and create more opportunities for – disabled people on and off air next year, including upcoming drama ‘But When We Dance’.
The 90-minute feature length film tells the story of Tony and Emma, two people bonded by a great sense of humour, a passion for dance and Parkinson’s disease.
Writer Paul Mayhew-Archer said: "People with Parkinson’s are also funny and loving and irrepressibly optimistic, and I know this because I’m one of them.
"When I was first diagnosed, my neurologist, who is a lovely man, told me: ‘You seem to find it quite hard to smile’. Well, I thought, maybe that’s because you’ve just told me I have Parkinson’s."
The BBC describes the project as "an important film that will touch so many lives", with Parkinson’s UK estimating that every hour, two people in the UK are told they have the disease, while around 145,000 people are suffering with it in the UK alone.
Lucy Richer, Senior Drama Commissioning Editor and BBC Executive Producer, added: "Paul writes with honesty, humour and hope about an important subject which will impact on many of us in our lifetimes. We are very proud to tell this story on BBC One."
Also set for 2020 is a series of "ambitious and challenging monologues" curated by disabled writer and actor Mat Fraser for BBC Four.
Each of the 15-minute fictional pieces will be based on factual research and real experiences as they "span the last 50 years of British History".
Fraser said: "I’m thrilled to be curating this exciting, surprising, and revealing series of monologues around the disabled experience, for the BBC.
"Disabled voices have been shut out of mainstream TV drama for too long, and this is a chance to showcase some of the wonderful, inventive, funny, dramatic, sexy, and searing potential available."
Meanwhile, disabled artist and filmmaker Richard Butchins will challenge the importance of good vision in making great art with upcoming film ‘The Disordered Eye’.
He will explore how visual impairments have had a positive contribution to the creation of art throughout history in a piece set for BBC Four.
BBC announces plans to boost disability representation in 2020
