ITV Corrie star on breaking down barriers in new BBC drama Ralph and Katie

It was a night of celebration as The Royal Television Society North West marked 100 years of the BBC at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry, by shining a spotlight on the broadcaster's groundbreaking new comedy drama Ralph and Katie. Ralph and Katie, which launched last week on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, is a spin-off of The A Word, which followed a young boy with austim.

Ralph and Katie shows there's no rule book for marriage, as two newlyweds navigate their way through love and independence. The six-part series episodes follow the continuing story of Ralph and Katie Wilson, who have Down’s Syndrome, focusing on the domestic challenges they face and issues faced by all newlyweds.

At the celebration event RTS chairman Cameron Roach emphasised that Ralph and Katie is "precisely the type of TV series that the BBC has always and should always produce" through its approach to inclusion. Both lead actors, Bolton’s Leon Harrop and Lewes- based Sarah Gordy MBE, who became the first woman with Down's syndrome to be made an MBE in 2018 for services to the arts and people with disabilities, have Down’s Syndrome.

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To a packed house of RTS members, industry influencers and Ralph and Katie’s cast, crew and writers, BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty hosted a Q&A panel comprising showrunner and series creator Stockport born Peter Bowker, northern based writers Genevieve Barr and Lizzie Watson, producer and disability campaigner Jules Hussey, director Jordan Hogg and Coronation Street’s Cherylee Houston whose Triple C and DANC organisations provide opportunities and access for disabled talent across broadcast, media and the arts.