91Èȱ¬

"When will we get a disabled character in EastEnders?" had become something of a mantra for disability groups to chant. In a meeting at 91Èȱ¬ Television Centre in London this evening, it was announced that a wheelchair-using actor will join the cast, along with a raft of other initiatives to increase visibility of disabled people in drama and entertainment shows.

Actor David Proud - who previously appeared in C91Èȱ¬'s wheelchair basketball drama Desperadoes and ITV2's Secret Diary of a Call Girl - is set to join the long-running soap later this year.

He will play confident yet snobby Oxford University student Adam Best, son of Manda (Josie Lawrence). He turns up in Walford during holidays away from uni, where he takes an immediate disliking to his mum's boyfriend Minty as well as the Queen Vic. The only thing Adam does like, by all accounts, is Libby Fox, another prospective Oxford student and, more importantly, Darren Miller's girlfriend.

He's not the first disabled character on the Square though, as exec Diederick Santer was keen to point out.

"In recent years, we've had a number of regular and guest characters with disabilities - some of them children, like Janet Mitchell, and more recently Syd's son Noah. We've also told the story of Jean Slater, who suffers from bipolar disorder. But this is the first time we've had a regular adult character with a visible disability played by an actor with a disability. It's about time."

Director of 91Èȱ¬ Vision, Jana Bennett, also announced the launch of an online directory of disabled actors, comedians and performers with disabilities. Created with support and collaboration from many talent agencies such as Spotlight and Equity, it will be available to both in-house and independent production teams as an accessible research tool.

A disabled talent search was also announced this evening. Talent Alert focuses on four cities, starting with Manchester on 8th June, and followed by Glasgow, London, and Cardiff. Casting directors from the 91Èȱ¬ will be hosting two day workshops in each city.

Bennett said: "It's critical that to connect with all of our audiences, we want to authentically reflect the lives of disabled people on screen. The Talent Alert workshops kick off our nationwide search for the best disabled actors and performers from around the UK, which will help us attract more disabled actors to a career in the arts, online and on screen ..."

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