BBC One’s The A Wordspin-offRalph & Katie, which was created by a group of disabled writers overseen by Peter Bowker, has entered production in Manchester and the Lake District.
The six-parter from ITV Studios, Keshet Productions and Tiger Aspect, which follows the two belovedA-Word characters played by Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy, has also unveiled cast including Gogglebox narrator Craig Cash, Dylan Brady (Get Even), Jamie Marie Leary (Traces), Sam Retford (Screw) and Daniel Cerqueira (Pennyworth). Returning actors from Bowker’sThe A Wordinclude Pooky Quesnel, Nigel Betts and Matt Greenwood.
The groundbreaking show is the UK’s first to feature an all-disabled writers’ room, with five writers (Amy Trigg, Annalisa Dinnella, Genevieve Barr, Tom Wentworth and Lizzie Watson) overseen byWorld On Fire creator Bowker.
A program to give disabled people in the North West of England access to the show’s production will run for the next six months while it shoots in Manchester and the Lake District.
The British TV industry’s focus has turned to disability representation in recent months following a blistering MacTaggart address from Helpwriter Jack Thorne, who said the industry had “utterly and totally” failed disabled people. Thorne has since launched a pressure group with Genevieve Barr, one of the writers on Ralph and Katie.
The BBC and Netflix unveiled a commitment at last year’s Edinburgh Television Festival to fund shows from disabled creatives.
Based on Keshet’s Israeli format Yellow Peppers and running for three seasons, The A WordstarredDoctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston as the grandfather of Joe Hughes, a child on the autistic spectrum with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music.