Ability

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Comedy: Sitcoms

Sitcom about Matt, who has cerebral palsy and can only speak using an app on his tablet.

Sitcom about Matt, who has cerebral palsy and can only speak using an app on his tablet. Co-written by Lee Ridley and Katherine Jakeways.

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 LW

Lee Ridley

Allan Mustafa

Jane Berthoud

Katherine Jakeways

Ability: Pilot

Pilot

BBC Radio 4 - Ability, Pilot

What happens when someone with cerebral palsy moves into his best friend's flat?

What happens when someone with cerebral palsy leaves home to move into his best friend's flat? Stars Lee Ridley. From 2017.

Lost Voice Guy (real name Lee Ridley) won the BBC Radio Stand-Up Comedy Award in 2014. He is a funny guy.  He also has cerebral palsy and can only speak via a computer. Ability uses Lee's experiences of coping with this disability and weaves them into a sitcom. 

It's based around Matt, who's leaving home for the first time to move in with Jess, his best friend from school. Matt's parents are worried, particularly his dad - they have always done everything for him. But Matt is determined even though his new carer, Bob, is not all he should be. Bob is new to the role, and although willing, he somehow manages to spend more time dealing weed and flogging knocked off TVs than cooking Matt's tea. But he treats Matt like an equal, and not all his previous carers have done that, and so the two form a bond. 

A bond that could lead Matt into an awful lot of trouble. Especially as Matt has never been above exploiting his circumstances if the situation arises - he's always known he could get away with murder (although he's never actually tried that of course). But who would suspect the disabled guy? Could Matt and Bob become the new Del boy and Rodney? And if so, which is which?

Pilot episode for the following series.  

Written by: Lee Ridley and Katherine Jakeways.

Matt..............Lee Ridley
Jess...............Sammy T Dobson
Bob................ Allan Mustafa
Inner Voice.......Andrew Hayden-Smith
Peter................James Lailey
Maureen...........Alison Belbin
Drug User.........Keziah Joseph

Producer: Jane Berthoud

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2017.

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