Authentic Stories need the Right Voice in the Room

Most productions now want authentic disability representation. The problem is they do not always know how to achieve it, and without the right voice in the room, the result is characters written from the outside looking in. Credible on the surface, but not quite true.

Neil Ben has spent over thirty years in television as a writer and director, and a lifetime navigating disability from the inside. He works with writers’ rooms, producers and story teams to make sure disabled characters are built from the truth outward, not the assumption inward.

How I Can Help

• Writers’ room collaboration: Sitting within writing teams to help develop storylines, character arcs, and plot that include disabled characters naturally and credibly.

• Script consultancy: Script notes and development support at outline, draft, and polish stages.

• Casting: Supporting the search for on- and off-screen disabled talent.

• Production & access: Advising on access during prep, tech recces, and production meetings.

• On-set support: Working with directors, ADs, and cast to support performance and storytelling.

• Training & discussion: Creating space for honest conversation, myth-busting, and challenging assumptions

Selected Experience in Story, Access, and Production

“The Dumping Ground” – Sat in on the writers’ room for BBC Children’s upcoming series, helping develop a disabled character.

“Happy Ending” – 6×60 psychological thriller with a disabled protagonist at its centre, in development with a Channel 4 bursary.

“D-Mob” – 6×60 returning crime drama centred on a wheelchair-using strategist, identified as a strong candidate for the BBC/Netflix disabled writers initiative.

“The Darling Hospital for Sick Children” – Drama written as part of BBC’s Writers’ Access Group. Currently being sent out by the BBC to various production companies.

“Paralympics” – Studio Director in 2024’s coverage of the Paralympics, covering the afternoon show on More4 for the 12-day event. Whisper for Channel 4

“The Retreat” and “Small People” – Script development. Creating and writing comedy/drama & sitcom formats that feature strong disabled characters, with interest from Channel 4, BBC, Channel 5 and UKTV on these and other ideas.

“The B@IT” – Channel 4 Comedy – writing and directing comedy shorts for Ch 4’s online comedy offerings. One sketch, “Manket” has had over 6 million views.

“Murder They Hope”  – Comedy drama for UKTV. 2nd Unit Director of 2×1 hour episodes directing GVs, pick-up and drone sequences as well as directing a promo with Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson.

“Protecting Vulnerable Adults” – Writer/Director on training dramas featuring disabled actors.

Neil was selected from hundreds of submissions for the BBC Writers’ Access Group 2023–25. He creates authentic, character-driven comedy drama that challenges perceptions around disability without ever reducing characters to stereotypes.

Neil doesn’t write disability stories. He writes human stories: rich, funny, flawed, and real. His work centres disabled characters as they exist in life, fully rounded, emotionally complex, and unforgettable.

At a moment when audiences and broadcasters are asking for storytelling that feels both truthful and bold, Neil’s work entertains first, then quietly shifts how we see the world.

Portfolio

 TV Projects in Development

HAPPY ENDING

In development with a Channel 4 bursary.

6 x 60-minute psychological thriller

Logline: A disabled maths teacher, resigned to a life without passion, is reawakened by an affair with a beautiful woman, unaware she is a serial killer who has spent years granting disabled men what she believes is the perfect happy ending. As he begins uncovering the truth about her, and she falls for the first man she cannot bear to lose, their relationship becomes a dangerous collision between the killer who can’t let him go and the man who discovers what she is but still can’t walk away.

Tone: The Fall meets Killing Eve, with a nod toward You.

D-MOB: The Rose and Crown Affair

D-MOB are a crew of underestimated outsiders who weaponise their invisibility and society’s misconceptions to beat the system at its own game. Opening Arc: The Rose and Crown Affair – A two episode story launching the wider D-MOB series. Following the opening arc, each episode presents a new case where D-Mob step in to help those society has failed.

6x 60-minute drama series

Logline: A wheelchair-using pub landlady has left her criminal past firmly behind her. But when she is forced back into crime to save the community she loves, she hides the truth of who she used to be from the only man who has ever truly loved her. As he works undercover to find the criminal mastermind, he has no idea she is the one pulling the strings.

Tone: Emotionally rich, character-led drama about identity, trust, and the cost of being truly known.

DARLING HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN

Developed as part of BBC Writers Access Group 2023 – 25

6x 60-minute episode series

Logline: When a young actor with a physical disability returns to volunteer at the children’s hospital where he was once a patient, he discovers that making sick children laugh might be his true calling, if he can first heal the trauma from his past.

Tone: Call the Midwife meets Patch Adams in 1980s Britain. A heartwarming yet unflinching drama that finds hope, humour, and healing in the most unlikely places.

THE RETREAT

 Alongside the TV series, a trilogy of novels has been written. Book One mirrors the first series, while Books Two and Three extend the characters’ journeys to a satisfying, circular resolution.

3 x 60-minute psychological drama

Logline: A failed actress, trapped on a remote island retreat, is forced to improvise as a guru. Inventing processes on the spot, she is shocked when they begin transforming lives, but under the manipulative gaze of the retreat’s enigmatic host, it becomes increasingly unclear whether the retreat is healing people or quietly breaking them apart.

Tone: The White Lotus meets Apple Tree Yard, with the raw psychological honesty of This Way Up.

SMALL PEOPLE

6x 30-minute family comedy-drama

Logline: When single dad Leo’s ex-wife abandons their teenage kids to move to Australia with her new boyfriend, this 4’5″ animation producer must navigate the towering challenges of full-time parenting. Literally and figuratively.

Tone: Outnumbered meets Motherland with the heart of Trying and a dash of Derry Girls bite.

Additional Credits 

“Toni Biscotti’s School for Dramatic Youth” – Comedy pilot for Nickelodeon
Directed this fully funded, improvised children’s comedy drama for Nickelodeon. Starring Steve Furth, Dolly Wells and a cast of over 40 teenage actors.

“Megamaths” – Entertainment/educational series for BBC Schools TV
Multi-camera Director and Co-writer on two series of ten x 20 min studio based maths programmes for 7-9 year olds. Japan Prize nominated and RTS award-winning first series.

“Just So Darwin” – Animation series for CBBC
Produced and script edited this 13-part BATFA nominated animation series to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

“Hotch Potch House” – Puppet series for the BBC
Writer and Director of 17 comedy sketches for this puppet based series

“Square One TV” – Entertainment/educational maths series for the BBC
Wrote and Directed mini-drama, comedy and studio quizzes. Co-production with Children’s Television Workshop, New York and the BBC.

“The Poetry of Passion” – English Series for the BBC
Directed this 30-minute chat show on Love Poetry, staring Lily Savage and Tom Hollander. RTS and Japan Prize nominated series.

Professional Training

• Participant of the BBC’s Writers Access Group 2023-25
• Participant on Directors UK Inspire Programme 2022 with Mentor Ed Bye.
• Multi-camera studio directing – BBC Training
• Introduction to direction – BBC Training
• Working with actors – BBC Training

  Alongside professional practice, Neil has continually developed his skills through BBC and Directors UK programmes focused on access, inclusion, and performance direction.

Other Relevant Experience

• Stand-up comedian performing on the open mic circuit in London and the SE
• Writer, director and performer with Chicken Shed Theatre Company
• Producer/Presenter Great Ormond Street Hospital Radio
• Producer/Director TV Access Project PR videos 2023 & 2025
• Patron of Herts Inclusive Theatre

   

   

  If you’d like support bringing authentic disabled stories to life — or just want to make sure your next production gets it right, get it touch.