1. Disability and TV Drama
What are the stereotypes
How are they used
What issues are there

2. What do we already know
• What types of disabled are there?
– Physical
– Behavioural
– Emotional
– Health
– Sensory
• You have five mins to list all the disabled
characters on TV you can think of (any TV Drama)

3. In General
• How are these people being represented? Are
they victims? Does everyone have pity on
them? Are they treated like everyone else?
• What stereotypes do we have?
• Are they different depending on the disability.
• What part do they have within the show, is it a
crucial role?

4. Camera Mise en Scene
Editing Sound

5. Example One
What stereotypes are used here and how are
the technical elements used to make us focus on
the representation of disability
• Tony and Skins – Family
• Tony and Skins - Friends

6. Under Representation
• “The representation of Disability in the
media in the last ten years is pretty much the
same as it has always been: clichéd,
stereotyped and archetypal”
• How far do you agree with this statement?

7. Example Two
• What stereotypes are used here and how are
the technical elements used to make us focus
on the representation of disability
• Come Down the Mountain
• How do you feel about this representation?

8. Camera Mise en Scene
Editing Sound

9. 11th March 2009
• British TV drama bosses from across the main channels
are to take action to ensure that more disabled actors
are cast in their programmes
• There was consensus that much more effort should be
made to include disabled actors in parts not originally
written as disabled characters, and that there was a
need for more inclusion of disabled people as
background characters as a matter of course and for
the development of disabled characters as permanent
members of soap casts
• Do you think this has happened? What do you think
might be some of the difficulties associated with this?

10. Example Three
• There was a bit of an outcry about Glee and its
use of able-bodied actors – what do you
think?

11. Summary
• Write down five stereotypes about disability
that we have discussed today.
• Give examples from TV Dramas where these
stereotypes are reinforced
• Give examples from TV Dramas where these
stereotypes are challenged.
• Give examples of how technical elements can
be used to represent disability