Reframe is a series exploring how television shapes our understanding of disability, power, intimacy and authority. Through analysis of mainstream drama, industry practice and storytelling craft, it looks at how narratives are built, where assumptions quietly limit possibility, and how inclusion can expand what feels believable on screen. This is not about blame or box-ticking. It is about craft, imagination and widening the lens so our stories reflect a fuller, richer human world.
Can Writers Write Beyond Lived Experience?
Can writers write beyond lived experience, or do unseen assumptions limit what feels possible in television drama? An exploration of storytelling craft, disability representation, and expanding the boundaries of imagination.
Is Research the same as Lived Experience?
What’s the difference between technical accuracy and authentic rhythm in character creation? Neil examines how lived experience shapes internal logic, behaviour, and performance in television drama, and why audiences can feel the difference.
Why Children’s TV Leads the Way on Inclusion
Why does children’s television treat disabled casting as normal, while adult drama can frame it as “too difficult”? Drawing on over thirty years in television, this post looks at how fear around budgets, schedules, logistics and ratings can shrink what gets written and what gets made.
Are Some Disabilities Easier for Television
This post examines why certain forms of difference appear more frequently on screen, while others remain rare, and questions whether perceived production difficulty is rooted in practical reality or in familiarity and comfort within the industry.
Is Authentic Casting the End of the Conversation?
This post explores the difference between visibility and authorship, arguing that while disabled casting matters, real change happens when lived experience shapes tone, structure, and narrative from the very beginning of development.
Can you be Powerful Without Physical Dominance?
This post challenges television’s reliance on size, volume and physical control as shorthand for authority, and explores how psychological intelligence, timing and underestimation can create far more compelling forms of power on screen.