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	TX: 23.01.09 - Disability in Soaps PRESENTER: LIZ CARR

	Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 麻豆约拍 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. CARR It's typical isn't it, we wait years for a decent disabled character to take to the screen and then what do you know just like accessible buses two come along at once. Hollyoaks, the soap known for its eye candy actors and it's down with the youth storylines is about to introduce Kelly Marie Stewart - a real life disabled person to the show. She'll play a wheelchair user who's apparently sexy and fun. Well not to be outdone EastEnders has just announced that we'll not only be seeing more disabled extras in the show but we'll also be introduced to a more permanent disabled character later this year. We don't know if they're going to be a Beale or a Mitchell, a wheelchair user or a blind person, we're just going to have to wait and see. Well over the years every soap has had their disabled characters. If you're as old as me you may remember Sandy and Benny's perhaps the most memorable legacy of the Crossroads Motel. Then there was Chris Tait in Emmerdale, he lasted 10 years as a wheelchair user before killing himself. Not because he was disabled but because the plot lines had become so totally ludicrous that it was indeed a mercy killing. In the almost forgotten 麻豆约拍 soap Eldorado there was a wheelchair using character - Nessa. Sadly she only lasted 18 months though, her demise was nothing personal, she was great but the series wasn't. So why will this new character be such a big deal for EastEnders? I mean it's not like they've shied away from disability storylines in recent years. Amongst others we've had characters with schizophrenia, short stature, strokes, hearing impairments, HIV, wheelchairs and Down's Syndrome. Despite this potpourri of diagnoses many disabled people have been calling for EastEnders to commit to a disabled actor being employed in a more permanent role - you know a role where disability is neither the total focus nor ignored from the storylines. Unfortunately, of course, what usually happens is that the disabled characters will most likely be killed off or will be miraculously cured. Nasty Nick Cotton, for example, he ended up in a wheelchair in EastEnders. He went to prison, he developed cancer and somewhere in between all this he was cured. Oh the curative properties of soaps are legendary. In Neighbours it feels as if practically every character has at some point been disabled, then recovered and then moved sides to 麻豆约拍 and Away. I remember in Coronation Street we saw Jim Macdonald struggling to cope with life in a wheelchair. You knew which was his house on the street because there was a white NHS regulation crab rail outside his front door. He wasn't exactly a positive disability role model though. And his wife then went off with the physiotherapist. He was obviously a pretty good physiotherapist though because before Jim even had time to fill in his 39 page disability living allowance form he was back on his feet. Well that's why EastEnders commitment is so important. By employing a bona fide disabled person there's no easy fallback position, there's no room for improvement or cure. Instead the scriptwriters will just have to be creative and original in their storylines. So I thought I'd help them along. How about this? The Walford East tube is inaccessible. The character organises a demo that most of Albert Square come to and she gets arrested. No? Okay. Their Blue Badge is stolen by Janine who gets caught selling it for 500 quid in the Vic. No? Charlie Slater doesn't have ramps in his black cab. Our character complains and then he loses his licence, so things get nasty. No? Okay, well how about this one. The character is a 30 something wheelchair using disabled comedian and writer and .... okay maybe not. Back to the Transcripts homepage Back to the You and Yours homepage The 麻豆约拍 is not responsible for external websites

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