Is on-screen portrayal and storytelling finally levelling up?
Not an award ceremony or TV festival has gone by in the last few years without diversity, inclusion and portrayal being the hot topic. And while it’s fantastic that these issues are being talked about, what evidence is there that they are being acted on, and translated into the content we see, or the teams who make the content? With the 2022 BAFTA Awards taking place tonight I wanted to explore the stories and the characters ahead of the winners being announced, to see if we really are levelling up, on and off screen. So here’s my unofficial BAFTA nominees for my very own inclusive portrayal award!
In the nominations for Single Drama is a production written by previous BAFTA award winner Jack Thorne; Help. This shocking yet stunning Channel 4 drama is set in a care home during the heights of the covid pandemic in 2020.
Before Thorne wrote Help he consulted with many key workers who were frontline during the pandemic. In a Channel 4 press release ahead of the show airing the writer was quoted saying “having people break down in tears on zoom in front of us has been incredibly moving and galling. Getting the story right will be incredibly important”. This level of due diligence enabled the two hour show to dig into levels of empathy it might not have otherwise gained, it really was based on many people's true story.
“When did all lives stop being worth the same?”
One of the stars of the show, Jodie Comer, is also nominated for leading actress at the upcoming TV Awards. The Killing Eve actress delivered a haunting piece to camera at the end of the programme touching on a number of current societal issues and highlighting what it was like in the pandemic for those classed as vulnerable and with underlying health conditions.
Let’s also not forget the incredible acting of Stephen Graham, nominated for Leading Actor alongside Jodie Comer, for portraying a man with young onset Alzheimers. The actor's father works in Special Education, giving him somewhat of an insight to not only play the role but develop the character alongside Jack Thorne as he wrote the script. Both the lead actors said they undertook their own extensive research to ensure they portrayed their roles accurately.
The cast and senior members of the crew credit the success of the show to the story writing of Jack Thorne. He has been able to use his own insight as someone with an underlying health condition, combined with his roofless research, to compose a show that will haunt me and many other viewers for years to come. They told the untold stories delicately and truthfully.
Nominated in the Special Factual category this BBC documentary show tells the real life stories of people living historically with disabilities and the way they were treated because of it, presenter and writer Cerrie Burnell’s Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain, is an honest factual programme about how for many years people with disabilities were denied basic human rights and segregated by society, all out of fear and prejudice.
In the 1920’s and 30’s, both scientist and politician of the times believed that Charles Darwin’s thought on evolution could be applied to people living with disabilities. They wanted to separate the ‘mental defective’ from the ‘normal people’. A film by the eugenic society at the time stated “it would be better by far, for them and the rest of the community, if they had never been born”.
The many interviewees Cerrie speaks to throughout the documentary speak rawly and truthfully, and at times refreshingly comedically, of what the world was like being born with a disability not all that many years ago in the grand scheme of history.
One lady speaks of what it was like 1930’s living through a time of experimentation and always being under the medical gaze as opposed to being seen as a person. Another tells her story of being a patient of Ludwig Guttman in the late 1950’s at the infamous Stoke Mandeville Hospital who went on to become one of the country’s first Paralympians. Even a gentleman who campaigned in the 1970’s for disabled people to be included in society and not segregated anymore, being one of the first in the early 80’s to move from a residential home to a place of his own.
I recently wrote a blog, It’s society that needs to adapt, not disabled people, off the back of Jack Thorne’s first full budget TV Drama Then Barbara Met Alan, which aired on BBC Two in March. The show highlights the battles led by disabled people for disabled people which led to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, also mentioned and featuring interviewees of people present at the protests that led to this much needed change.
“You shouldn’t have to conform to society, society should change for you”
Even the presenter spoke candidly of her own story, not only of her youth and choosing not to wear a prosthetic arm and being told if she didn’t it would scare children around her, but even in 2009 when she started with Cbeebies there was an unjustified uproar from parents.
This insightful watch reminded me, despite some of the difficult situations I have been put in by society because of my disability, I am very fortunate to have been born in a time of progress and I hope to be able to continue to contribute to the movement to making the world a more accessible and inclusive place.
I am ashamed to say that until this programme came out in the BAFTA nominations I hadn’t watched it, despite it coming out early 2021. The show aired quietly late night on BBC Two and is getting the acknowledgement it deserves regardless of if it wins the award.
On a much lighter, and progressive note, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice’s silent dance on the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing is in the nominee list for the Must See Moment. The couple danced to Symphony for the Couple Choice routine, with the music fading out for a segment of the dance, imitating what it is like for Rose every time she dances as she is deaf.
“It was more than just 16 seconds of silence”
When the music fell silent, so did the entire studio. This routine was not only beautiful because Rose is an incredible dancer, despite being unable to hear the music, this momentous dance also led to a nearly 3000% increase in people signing up to BSL (British Sign Language courses).
Disabled rights charity Scope reported in February 2022 that BSL was set to gain Legal Status after the Government finally backed the bill, one that has been 19 years in the making.
The screen industries are beginning to make bolder moves to become more inclusive for people with disabilities, in both on and off screen roles. The Creative Diversity Network’s project, Doubling Disability, is there to assist broadcasters and production companies to deliver this. Due to many reasons, including undoubtedly the pandemic, the aims weren’t met by the time initially set but is well on track.
More programmes from the likes of Jack Thorne and Cerrie Burnell is what the industry and the audience needs to become more inclusive minded to ensure society becomes more accessible. I believe it’s the media industry’s responsibility to pave the way for better attitudes towards people with disabilities.
Another programme to highlight from the BAFTA list is It’s a Sin, with an impressive number of nominations across five categories. Years and Years lead singer Olly Alexander, nominated for Leading Actor, put on a stellar performance. The Leading Actress list features Lydia West. The show sees three names in the Supporting Actor selection and the show as a whole is nominated for Mini-Series.
Set primarily in London, the five part drama about a group of friends navigating through the AIDS pandemic in the 1980’s forces you to vividly relive the terror of those living at the time who were homosexual and their allies.
“It says no one survives”
I didn’t forget the fifth nomination, I just felt it deserved more than one sentence, and a spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the show yet. In the Must-See Moments category, Colin’s devastating AIDS diagnosis has a worthy place.
To recap, When Colin first moved from the Valley’s to London he befriends a colleague who he discovers is gay, like him, and living with his partner in the shadows. This opens his world up to the LGBT+ community in London that he was becoming a part of.
The lovely and gentle characters first symptom was an epiletic seizure and after it occured on a second occasion he was placed in isolation. When Colin’s mum finds out about his diagnosis she doesn’t worry about her son being gay, like many at the time, she just focused on her sons health. She fights to get him out of the prison-like ward he was being held in and home with her, and his friends. He had contracted HIV from his only sexual partner. He passed peacefully surrounded by love and support, unlike so many others at the time.
There were many times whilst watching It’s a Sin that I had goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes. As someone with a gay best friend I cannot begin to imagine what it would have been like for him if he was living in that time. It is no surprise it is nominated for so many awards at the BAFTAs this year.
Two further programmes to recognise are Factual Series nominee Uprising and Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, in the list for Specialist Factual. Uprising is a three part documentary about a trio of events that took place in 1981 and the impact it had on race relations in the UK.
Regardless of who wins tonight - it's my hope that in years to come these examples of inclusive and ground-breaking content will be the norm rather than the exception; that all categories will include actors, producers and writers from diverse backgrounds; that the inclusivity of our industry will be a given, not a goal we are still reaching for.
The BAFTAs air on BBC One, Sunday 8th May from 6pm.
About the Author: Chloe Ball-Hopkins is a former Para Archer for Team GB, a TEDx Speaker and adapted fashion campaigner. Chloe previously worked for the BBC as a reporter and producer, and is currently finishing her Media Production Degree while also working part-time for Gritty Talent as our content producer.
