MacTaggart Summer Series | Rose Ayling-Ellis
Words Spoken by Rose Ayling Ellis at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2022
From the Staff
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After another successful festival, we’re taking a short break from our commissioned Reflections posts. We hope you enjoy another instalment of our MacTaggart Summer Series as the end of summer draws near.
This week, we’re sharing Rose Ayling-Ellis’ 2022 Alternative MacTaggart. You can also find this speech on YouTube if you prefer to listen/watch instead.
Please be aware that this article contains descriptions of Ableism.
Hi. It is an honour to be here and thank you for having me and for this amazing opportunity. I'll first start by introducing myself.
You probably know me as the first deaf regular on a soap or as a deaf person to appear on Strictly — and to win it too. And, today, I'm extremely fortunate to be the first deaf person to deliver the Alternative MacTaggart speech. How did I get to be here?
None of it was every planned.
I got into acting by accident. I grew up never seeing anyone like me on telly, but I fell in love with it and took it on as a hobby. When I chose it as a career, I knew it was going to be difficult, but I was incredibly lucky to meet the people who were willing to take a chance on me. Never had I ever dreamt that I would be given all these opportunities or that any of this would have been possible.
Okay, let me stop myself.
Do you know what I'm doing right now?
I am doing what I always feel like I have to do, to make sure I come across as happy, positive and easy to work with.
I am being careful, as I always am, to explain myself politely. Because I have a constant underlying fear that, if I dare to express my anger, I will be seen as difficult, too much like hard work and that I'll be replaced by someone who is not deaf.
I am presenting a version of myself that I want you to see, the one where I'm grateful for everything that happens and thankful for all the opportunities you've given to me.
The reality is, it's been a constant battle.
I have to break through constant barriers to get to where I am. It's been a lonely, upsetting journey and, while winning Strictly was an amazing experience, it shouldn't be allowed to conceal the hardships I have been through to get here.
To hold the responsibility of being the ‘first deaf person’ can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse. I feel the whole weight of my community resting on my shoulders and, trust me, it is heavy. To be very honest with you, right now, I am petrified — and it's not because I'm up on this stage while you're staring at me. I'm an actress, this is what I love to do!
I am terrified of how honest I'm going to be. I'm scared to be the deaf actress standing here telling you, the most powerful people in this industry, the way you have made my job difficult. I do feel responsible to make this speech comfortable and nice for you to hear, but my reality isn’t always nice.
It's not nice when my access is compromised. It’s not nice to realise my presence is a token. It's not nice when my favourite TV show doesn't have subtitles. It's not nice to be feeling frustrated and unheard. However, let me clarify one thing…
It is not frustrating being deaf.
Being deaf is my proudest identity. Having a disability is not a barrier. I am disabled because I live and work in a world that disables me. Because if accessibility and inclusion were the norm, then would I consider myself as disabled?
I am bilingual, which means I can speak and use BSL.
BSL has given me a full language. It's giving me the feeling of inclusion and access to a rich and colourful world. On the other hand, speaking gives me access to the hearing world. I could speak, but I could never feel included.
Every time I get given a new task or a job, the first question that comes to my mind is: should I speak, or should I sign? Today for this speech, I have decided to speak. I am speaking because, in my experience, this is the best way to get hearing people to listen, and I really want the hearing people in the room to really listen to this speech.
Hearing people can learn a new language. They can learn to sign. I can never learn to hear, yet I'm the one that's making 110% effort to come to your world, to adapt to you and to accommodate your discomfort. But, where’s your effort to enter my world?
I learned from an early age that I live in a hearing world, and I have to accept that. We see it time and time again: the minority being made, or rather forced, to adapt to a world designed for the majority.
So, I ask myself, what if I don't accept it anymore? What if I use the power of my voice to make you more aware, to get you to see it's time for you to put in the work?
I have learnt to expect people to do the bare minimum and to put the responsibility back on to me to make the difference for my community — and it’s very tiring. I don't know if anyone’s going to listen to me, or this will be lost to the hype. What I do know is disabled people shouldn't be responsible for curing non-disabled people of their ignorance. Standing here right now, all I can do is to speak honestly and share my experience. So, let’s get started.
First, I would like to talk about one of my early professional jobs. It was a theatre production where I was playing a non-disabled role. The director wanted me to adapt it to a deaf character who could communicate in sign language.
From the beginning, there was a lack of awareness for Deaf culture and BSL. They didn't spend any extra time during rehearsals to incorporate BSL into the script, and the director then expected me to teach the other actors to sign.
As I said at the start of this speech, BSL is rich and expressive, just like any language. It plays a crucial role in shaping my world and the the way I respond to people, what I think and feel. It can be sensitive, funny, angry and it’s complicated. It has its own grammar structure, different accents and even its own slang. You can always tell if someone only just learned BSL or if they’ve grown up using it.
The first historical mention of BSL was in 1576. Throughout its long and complex history, BSL has been oppressed, mocked and patronised by hearing people, and enough is enough. It deserves to be treated with the same respect you would treat any language, and it's certainly not something you can expect to pick up in a few rehearsals.
Sorry for waffling… did I mention BSL users are expressive?! To ensure effective communication when working with deaf and hearing actors, you will either need to hire actors who already know the language or bring in a BSL consultant to teach everyone the basics, just like you would bring in a voice coach.
Being Deaf has its own culture, so Deaf awareness is vital and a consultant can be there to make sure both the language and the culture are respected. When working, I need to be able to see other actors’ faces. I need visual cues, and, most importantly, I need the people I work with to know how to communicate best with me.
In this example, the director realised that, to create an authentic and layered character, they would need to commit time. And so, rather than putting in the effort, chose to change my character to be hearing to make things easier for them. It’s lazy. My language was oppressed and, as a result, I loss access to a key part of my identity at work.
It is not one-off. I hear time and time again of deaf actors having similar experiences in other productions in theatre and TV, with their identity being considered a burden that has to be compromised. All of this could have been easily avoided if the production team had planned it and talked about what is needed to be done when working with a deaf actor beforehand.
Just hiring a deaf actor is not a job well done. I was made to feel like I was a burden, like I was difficult. If they had listened and worked with me, it would have made everybody's life much easier. It was such a missed opportunity to create something beautiful — if only they had been willing to put in the work.
I applaud people trying to improve diversity and representation in their work. But, in my experience, too often when it comes to working with deaf people who use BSL, people underestimate our life experience and find themselves out of their depth. Often, their response is to ignore the problem.
I don’t get to ignore my disability; It's my reality as the deaf person in a hearing room. Anyone can hire an interpreter and provide Deaf awareness training, or even buy a special fire alarm for me. Of course, it is important to make sure access needs are met, but that is the bare minimum. It doesn't equal representation.
True representation starts, before the actor comes in the room, with research and authentic scripts. It is vital to remember that access and representation are two separate things. A clear example of this is a role I play on TV, where I'm almost always working with a script that is written by hearing people. It can be frustrating playing a hearing person's perception of what a deaf person is like.
I am grateful for this job. It has given me a lot of opportunities and enabled me to grow and develop my skills as an actor. They were the only programme prepared to take on a regular character who is deaf, so credit where credit is due. Being the first deaf person to play a regular character is a huge privilege and was long overdue. They make sure every day is accessible for me. I always have an interpreter, they created a Deaf awareness video for every new person coming into the company, as well as trying to set up BSL classes.
However, despite all the things it has given me, I would be lying if I said it didn't come with its own challenge. It is such a fast-paced industry. It’s the fastest working environment I have ever been in and, as a result, I often receive a script that is not quite right.
They will write my character, who is in the room with a big group of people arguing with each other, following everything that has been said and even repeating things back to them. Or, they will write my character as lipreading someone from impossibly far away like I have a super-power, which is not realistic at all. I am playing a deaf character that is either written as a hearing person or as a deaf stereotype.
Even though I am not paid to do the extra work on top of my job, I try to fix the problem on set, and a lot of times people are very supportive and make changes based on my advice. But the problem is, it doesn’t get added to the scripts. So, when it comes to editing, the editor follows the original script and the changes I made are left out of the final cut. This isn't one-off, it happened to me every week.
I am constantly fighting to have my deaf identity represented, but end up being made to feel like my voice isn't heard. I end up being torn, torn between representing the Deaf community and telling our stories, but wanting to have a career with a good working relationships.
I have asked countless times for a deaf consultant to be brought in to work with the writing team, to help to advise on ways to incorporate and respect the Deaf culture. You can't write about deaf people without a deaf person's input. Nothing about us without us. A consultant should be involved at all stages when working with deaf people. However, due to the speed of the working style and the high turnover of the staff, the importance of consultants is often forgotten.
Recently, I started to see small changes at work. They asked me to come into a writing room and share my experience as a deaf woman to help make sure their writing is realistic. Allowing me to make changes to the script means my ideas are portrayed in the final edit. But, it shouldn't have taken me two years of repeating my frustrations, using up my time and energy, to be able to get to the point where I feel able to demand that my needs are met. It’s another job on top of being an actor, and it’s not optional.
If my deafness is badly represented, it’s me that ends up getting the blame.
You must remember I am the only deaf member in the whole company and the only regular deaf actor in any returning drama on British TV. My one voice amongst so many in the company means I can get drowned out and, truthfully, it can be lonely. This isn't meant as a criticism of the show in question; It is something that happens across the board and needs to be accepted as a problem by the whole industry.
The reality is that deaf and disabled talent are working with a system which wasn't built with them in mind, and it requires serious change from the people up top if we are going to do something about it. So when Strictly approached me, to tell you the truth, I didn't get excited straight away. I’ve become very wary of the industry. Every job I’ve been given, I’ve always been the only deaf person and it's always come with its challenges and issues.
I knew a big part of why Strictly approached me was because I'm deaf. I'm an actress, so doing a reality show was something I had not previously considered. However, I could see that the opportunity was huge and turning it down felt wrong. Saying no is a privilege that most people take for granted. I knew I would be the first deaf dancer, and saying no to that felt so wrong. This was a big platform. I knew how popular Strictly was so, in the end, I said yes, I will do it for the Deaf community.
Little did I know how magical and beautiful it would also be for me personally.
The first thing Strictly did was set up a meeting on Zoom to get to know me, and they learned very quickly, as you will likely have today, I don't have a filter. One of the first things they asked me was if I watched the show. I told them no.
Simply because I couldn't.
It was not accessible for me. The live subtitles were slow, leaving me always a step behind and excluded from a joke. Even on iPlayer, the subtitles have not been corrected. I will come back to the subtitles later.
I told them from the start exactly what I needed and that, if I was going to be part of the show, it would vital that my Deaf culture and identity were part of it too. I wanted my deafness to be present, but not overly emotional or inspirational.
The Strictly team went away and put a plan together based on my ideas. Incredibly quickly, the team came back to me to say they had amended the live subtitles, as well as the subtitles on iPlayer, and they said they had also added audio description for blind viewers. In addition to this, they set up a Deaf awareness training for everybody on and behind the scenes, and brought in a knowledgeable deaf person to provide consultancy, rather than burden me with this responsibility.
By putting this in place, Strictly had made me feel heard. It was the most inclusive and supportive job I ever had, and it has had a profound and lasting impact.
They let me share my story in my way. And look what that did. We won the BAFTA for Must-See Moment of the Year, and online searches for BSL courses rose by 4,000%. I have so many deaf people telling me they’ve seen a positive shift in attitudes towards them, and parents of deaf children telling me that seeing someone like me on screen had given their child a huge boost of confidence.
During my time on Strictly, I was supported to be 100% myself because the team adapted and allowed me to be, for the first time ever, Rose. Not just a deaf person. So to everyone on the team who played a part in making that experience so inclusive, I would like to say a big thank you.
Although it was a beautiful experience, the aftermath hasn't always been. I was thrown to suddenly find myself considered as a deaf pioneer, the poster girl for the Deaf community. Like I said, it’s fantastic for younger generations to have someone to be able to look up, which is something I never had. However, it comes with a new pressure that I never experienced before. For instance, I heard about programmes developed with a view to explore the Deaf culture being cancelled because I decided not to be part of them. This attitude of “if Rose isn't doing it, we don't want to do it” puts massive pressure on me.
It’s normal for actors to not say yes to everything they are offered, and to choose work and projects that are right for them.
For me, saying no meant other deaf people lose opportunities too.
It leaves me feeling guilty and conflicted. My appearance on Strictly should have encouraged people to seek out other deaf talent, yet how many deaf characters have we seen on TV since?
It is not enough to only elevate me. There are so many talented deaf people out there, and a thousand amazing deaf stories to be told. It is not enough to make me a pioneer on my own without allowing other deaf people to have platforms. And not only in front of the cameras or the audience, but also behind the screen too.
Remember when I said it's not nice to realise that my presence is a token? Because, if you are really thinking about the whole Deaf community, rather than using me as a token gesture, you would be able to get more done. And maybe I wouldn't need to fight for little things, like watching my own telly.
Remember when I mentioned I’ll come back to subtitles? Ofcom regulates subtitling in the UK, but the requirements that the broadcasters follow are different.
The BBC is required to subtitle 100% of their shows, but ITV and Channel 4 are only required to subtitle 90%. Other channels even less, only 80%. Subtitles on-demand, whether catch-up or streaming, is currently not regulated at all.
Why?
What's the explanation for this?
When questioned, Ofcom’s response was that the decisions on regulation are made on the basis of affordability and audience size… and, occasionally, technical difficulties.
Research has shown that users of subtitles has grown on a massive scale. Viewers aged 18-25 say they use subtitles all or part of the time. Netflix claims that 80% of their members use subtitles at least once a month. There is a growing market making use of subtitles, so it makes no business sense to make your programme inaccessible — not just to deaf people, but to the wider market.
This year, two deaf competitors appeared on Channel 4's popular show, Hunted, where people have to go on the run and avoid being found as long as possible. The pair used BSL and spoke to each other and the cameras. But when the programme was put on-demand, the deaf community had to wait for the first episode to be subtitled and were not able to watch it straight away like the hearing audience. This example just goes to show that deaf people are still being used to draw in audiences, to tick the box and get people interested.
Channel 4 say it was a technical fault, but it comes a year after another major technical fault left some of their programmes un-subtitled for nearly two months. And sure, mistakes happen, but when you are often excluded from a national conversation, and that hot storyline or plot twist, the frustration and isolation is very real.
Okay, let me break it down for you. Would you watch a TV series that only has the sound on for 80% of time? And what about if a really important episode was completely blurry, and you complained, but they come back to say, “Well, if more people watched the series they might fix the problem.”? Would you accept that?
It would be an outcry.
Yet deaf people are being ignored and expected to be grateful for the bare minimum.
So to all the channels still subtitling less than 100%, please fix this problem. And to all the broadcasters, please think about your audience.
Deaf people are used to being excluded and underestimated. Just recently I received an email asking me to overdub a dialogue for a hearing actor who was playing a deaf role. It read, “We are struggling to find a hearing-impaired actor who can deal with the physical requirements of the character. So, we ended up hiring an able-bodied actor for the role. We were incredibly respectful and avoided the actor doing an imitation when speaking.”
There are so many things that are wrong about this.
For one, "hearing impaired" is an offensive term, a quick google will tell you that. And the term able-bodied doesn’t apply here. Am I supposed to believe it is impossible to find a single deaf person amongst the UK's 87,000 BSL users that could have played this role? When are we ever going to move on from this?
I tried myself to investigate how difficult it is to hire a deaf actor. I began by asking Equity how many deaf actors are registered and, as much as they say they would love to have this data, they don't. Put simply: the industry is not regulating this data.
Approximately 11 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing, but they only account for 201 of the actors on Spotlight. Of the 201, only 56 of them use BSL.
Before I had an agent, I tried to apply for Spotlight membership. I was rejected more than once. I got rejected for one of three reasons, because I didn't have an agent, I didn't go to drama school, or I didn't have enough experience.
But here's the thing — an agent wouldn't take me on because they didn't think I could get enough work. I couldn't get into drama school because it was not accessible. And I didn't have enough experience because there are not enough deaf roles written. So, how is a young deaf actor supposed to get their foot in the door, when the door is firmly shut on them from the start?
Luckily, there are steps being taken and companies have been set up to productions bridge the gap between the hearing and the deaf world. For example, companies like Deaf Talent Collective, who can help find deaf actors and provide consultants for production, and TripleC DANC, who specialise in disabled script talent. I personally work very closely with Deaf Talent Collective, who support me at work to make sure I am given the necessary support.
Don't assume you are doing the right thing. Reach out, involve us by asking us what support we want. I promise you we won’t bite, even if we look like we will!
There are so many powerful deaf stories waiting to be shared.
Here’s the thing, why are we always portray a solitary person in drama or soap? I work and socialise with deaf people. Many deaf people have deaf family and friends. But how often is our community authentically represented on screen? How often do we see the diversity within the Deaf community, such as different uses of sign language, hearing devices or race and culture?
We want you to be open to listen to our experience and working with us to tell the stories that haven’t been told before. That means portraying the reality of our experience and painting our rich community, language and culture as it is.
The frustration that is clear in my speech is something that I have lived with all my life. I'm so used to it. False promises have become the norm for me, and I often underestimate and dismiss how much I put up with. It is my hope that by sharing my thoughts and feelings, I will encourage you to think about how you can improve the experience of deaf people when you hire them.
We are no longer prepared to be your inspirational tokens on screen. If you are only going to take one thing away from this speech, please do not feel put off working with deaf people. That's the last thing we want to happen.
It's OK to make mistakes, we all do. If we don't make mistakes, how are we ever going to learn? But please don't take the easy way out just to tick the box. Let's work together. We want to work together.
I was in two minds about whether to talk about what I plan to do next. On reflection, I thought, cliché as it sounds, if it not me, then who? If it not now, then when?
My journey so far hasn't always been easy and the future will certainly have its challenges, but it is a huge privilege to tell deaf stories and for them to have the potential to reach an expanding audience. I have created and am currently developing a new comedy drama series that will be totally bilingual and female-focused.
Whatever is next for me, I know one thing for sure, I am done with being a token deaf character. I believe that diverse, rich and fascinating deaf stories are ready to go to mainstream, and that we can do this together.
Let's create together to normalise deaf and disabled people on screen. I can only dream where seeing other disabled people on screen isn't such a rare sight, or where I don't get excited by the sight of other disabled people working behind the screen. This can only happen if you give us those opportunities.
Please have a good, hard look at your production and ask yourself, where are the deaf and disabled talent? If you are working with deaf and disabled people, have you asked them if they feel they are appropriately supported? Are you matching that representation off camera too, in scripting and directing?
By bringing in diverse talent, particularly disabled talent which is so often disregarded, you are opening up a whole new world of stories, ideas, viewpoint, characters and talent.
It's a no-brainer.
You have that power. Not us.
I hope you walk away from this and take action. I hope that you can push yourself to be braver, to have the courage to make changes. And, I hope that you reach out to us, and to me, because I'm so ready for you to see what I can do, and I won't stop till you listen.
Thank you.