Then Barbara Met Alan
{{Short description|Disability television drama}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| writer = Jack Thorne
Genevieve Barr
| director = Bruce Goodison
Amit Sharma
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| executive_producer = Jack Thorne
Richard Bond
Tom Pullen
| producer = Bryony Arnold
Debbie Shuter
| cinematography = Susanne Salavati
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| runtime = 67 minutes
| network = BBC Two
Netflix
| first_aired = {{Start date|2022|03|21|df=yes}} (UK)
| company = Dragonfly Film and TV
One Shoe Films
}}
Then Barbara Met Alan is a 2022 British television drama film about Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth, the founders of DAN (Disabled People's Direct Action Network), a disability activism group. It is written by Jack Thorne and Genevieve Barr and stars Ruth Madeley and Arthur Hughes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/then-barbara-met-alan-first-look-at-ruth-madeley-in-jack-thornes-disability-activist-drama/|title=Then Barbara Met Alan: First Look At Ruth Madeley In Jack Thorne's Disability Activist Drama|website=Empire|year=2021 }}{{Cite web|url=https://rts.org.uk/article/first-look-images-released-bbc-s-then-barbara-met-alan|title=First look images released for BBC's Then Barbara Met Alan|date=December 2, 2021|website=Royal Television Society}} It broadcast on BBC Two on 21 March 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015p4q|title = BBC Two - then Barbara Met Alan}}
Plot
After meeting in 1989 at a gig, two cabaret performers, comedian Barbara and activist-performer Alan, fall in love. Fueled by their passion and life experiences of mistreatment by an ableist society, they help found DAN, the Disabled People's Direct Action Network and lead protests for disabled people's rights which eventually lead to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Hollie |last2=Harrison |first2=Phil |last3=Duggins |first3=Alexi |title=The 25 must-see TV shows of 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/dec/29/must-see-tv-of-2022-in-uk |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=December 29, 2021}} As the movement grows and the pair have a child of their own, the pressure begins to wear on their relationship.
Cast
- Ruth Madeley as Barbara Lisicki
- Arthur Hughes as Alan Holdsworth
- Phillipa Cole as Sue
- Mat Fraser as Mat
- Liz Carr as Liz
Production
The project had the working titles of Piss on Pity and later Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won.{{cite news |last1=Dams |first1=Tim |title=Jack Thorne, Genevieve Barr Pen BBC Factual Drama on Disabled Rights Campaign |url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/global/jack-thorne-genevieve-barr-bbc-two-factual-disabled-rights-1234610503/ |access-date=31 January 2022 |work=Variety |date=May 19, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/first-look-then-barbara-met-alan/|title=First look pictures from factual drama Then Barbara Met Alan, starring Ruth Madeley and Arthur Hughes|website=www.bbc.co.uk}} During his MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Thorne said this was the first time he had a budget comparable to regular television drama for a disability-centered project.{{cite news |last1=Goldbart |first1=Max |title=TV has utterly failed disabled people, says 'The Virtues' writer Jack Thorne |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/tv-has-utterly-failed-disabled-people-says-the-virtues-writer-jack-thorne/5162653.article |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=Screendaily |date=August 24, 2021}}{{Citation|title=MacTaggart Lecture: Jack Thorne {{!}} Edinburgh TV Festival 2021|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxUZPMBRIPU|language=en|access-date=2021-09-02}} Concerning production difficulties in general, this lecture referenced a forthcoming [https://www.screenskills.com/media/5074/2nd-december-underlying-health-condition-report-tv.pdf report] by Screen Skills written by four writers including Jack Thorne and Genevieve Barr, and it debated the ideas behind a forthcoming campaign of the same name, Underlying Health Conditions, concerning TV and disabled people.{{Cite web |date=3 December 2021 |title=Jack Thorne Launches Underlying Health Conditions Pressure Group, Publishes Major Report Into Disabled Representation in TV Industry |url=https://www.imdb.com/news/ni63480342 |website=IMDB}}
The production prioritized disabled talent and visibility, including 17 disabled actors, 55 disabled supporting actors and 50% senior editorial team representation, in addition to extra help from disability groups as consultants and co-ordinators.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/uk-crip-camp-is-here-jack-thornes-bbc-netflix-drama-then-barbara-met-alan-is-rewriting-the-rules-on-disability-representation-1234978818/|title = UK 'Crip Camp' is Here: Jack Thorne's BBC/Netflix Drama 'Then Barbara Met Alan' is Rewriting the Rules on Disability Representation|date = 17 March 2022}} Lisicki was also involved in the production, providing archival materials and historical consultancy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.televisual.com/news/how-we-made-it-then-barbara-met-alan/|title=How we made it: Then Barbara Met Alan|date=21 March 2022}}
Historical alterations
Some historical events and people depicted were altered for dramatic purposes. These include:
- The Block Telethon protests in 1990 and 1992 were organised under the name of Campaign to Stop Patronage,{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Colin |title=Disabled people in Britain and discrimination : a case for anti-discrimination legislation : The British Council of Organizations of Disabled People |publisher=C. Hurst & Co |year=1991}}
- DAN was formally created in the spring of 1993 by around 16 disabled people at a weekend meeting in Norwich,{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Judy |title=No limits : the disabled people's movement : a radical history |publisher=TBR Imprint |year=2019 |location=Manchester}}
- Some of the later protest events in the film around the compromised{{Cite book |last=Gooding |first=Caroline |title=Blackstone's Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 |publisher=Blackstone with RADAR |year=1996}} Disability Discrimination Act 1995 were organised by a disability campaign called Rights Now! although most DAN members took part in these protests too.
Reception
The film received positive reviews, commending the performances, storytelling and attitude towards disability. Several reviews also noted the presentation of a disabled sex scene on mainstream television. Jack Seale of The Guardian awarded the film five out of five stars, declaring it a 'rollicking fact-based drama'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/21/then-barbara-met-alan-review-a-rollicking-fact-based-drama-with-a-rock-biographys-swagger|title = Then Barbara Met Alan review –a true 1990s love story of people power in action|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 21 March 2022}} Sean O'Grady of The Independent also gave it five out of five stars and remarked the film, '(is) as much a moving love story and wryly amusing sitcom as it is an emotionally charged chronicle of a small revolution.' He also praised Madeley and Hughes' performances.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/then-barbara-met-alan-bbc-two-b2040666.html|title = Then Barbara Met Alan is a moving love story within a revolution – review|website = Independent.co.uk|date = 22 March 2022}} Ben Dowell of The Times gave it four out five stars.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/then-barbara-met-alan-review-the-underdog-activists-who-fought-for-change-ksv6tn7sl|title = Then Barbara Met Alan review — the underdog activists who fought for change|last1 = Dowell|first1 = Ben}} The Daily Telegraph also gave it four out five stars.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/barbara-met-alan-review-joyously-defiant-story-disabled-people/|title=Then Barbara Met Alan, review: A joyously defiant story of how disabled people rejected pity|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=21 March 2022|last1=Singh|first1=Anita}}
In an article for The Guardian, disability activist and author Frances Ryan extolled the programme's highlighting of an undercelebrated part of civil rights history, as well as its handling of disabled representation on television.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/22/bbc-then-barbara-met-alan-disability-rights|title = Why the BBC drama then Barbara Met Alan brought tears to my eyes | Frances Ryan|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 22 March 2022}}
Awards
At the 2023 Broadcast Awards, the film won "Best Single Drama".{{cite web | url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcast-awards-2023/bbc1-and-sister-win-big-at-broadcast-awards-2023/5178943.article | title=BBC1 and Sister win big at Broadcast Awards 2023 }}
References
{{Reflist}}