Casualty made history with Jade Lovall episode - digitalspy.com

Crucially, Jade has never been defined by her invisible disability – and never will be – but tonight's edition (July 11) gave us an astonishing insight into her deafness for the first time in her two-year history on the show.

The scenes were written, directed and filmed with Jade's deafness at the forefront – and some of the challenges that she faces because of this.

But even more importantly, the episode was brought to life by a pioneering team, which included two deaf writers, a deaf director – John Maidens, and two deaf actors, Sophie Stone (Susie) and, of course, Gabriella Leon, who gave us one of the performances of her career tonight as Jade.

Not that a hearing director couldn't, but I think when you've got somebody who actually has lived that life, they do bring their own experience to it and I think that they are the best person to do that job.

"Sometimes you get non-deaf people who are very interested in something about deafness that maybe the deaf audience already knew, but Casualty were really interested in what deaf people thought.

"From start to finish of this production, it was especially important to portray and convey the truth of what it is like as a D/deaf person in different physical and emotional situations," he explained.

This authenticity behind the camera has also not only enabled Casualty to portray some of the misconceptions around deafness, but simultaneously gave the audience a chance to understand the complexity of different deaf experiences.

Every deaf person experiences deafness differently; something which has, up until this year, never really been addressed within soaps.

By bringing in their own experiences of being deaf in more challenging environments, Charlie, Sophie and John were able to bring Jade's deafness into scenes organically and authentically, showing us what she hears and what she doesn't, and how she navigates her identity as a deaf person in her personal and professional life.

I've experienced a wide range of different deaf identities because I had to keep adapting.

“I'm profoundly deaf and hear nothing except tinnitus, but when I put in my implant I can hear well again.

All deaf people are different.

"If the only deaf person in the team is one deaf actor, and they are asked to do an inauthentic line or directed to do something a deaf character would not do, then it puts that deaf actor in a position of having to decide whether to say, 'Actually, my character would never do this'.".

Charlie also explained that he and Sophie were both able to use their experiences of being deaf in group environments.

While EastEnders' special episode showed us Ben's silent world, Casualty showed us Jade's distinct experience, highlighting that deafness is absolutely not a uniform disability.

"I think what hopefully comes across in both the EastEnders and Casualty episodes is that they are deaf in different ways," Charlie explained.

The fractured subtitles in the silent episode of EastEnders showed you a jigsaw puzzle which you are putting together – but that's my life.

In his work on Casualty and EastEnders, Charlie has managed to tackle and break down many of the preconceptions of deafness, allowing the audience to see different deaf characters and their experiences.

However, he also believes that not having a wider range of representation behind the camera can often be what generates stereotypes about minority groups on screen, especially when it comes to deafness and disability.

I grew up going to a deaf club in Nottingham with my parents and mixing with deaf people young and old of all different backgrounds", Charlie said.

"When I write a deaf story, I'm thinking about all those people that I've known in my life and all their different experiences.

There was a real interest in following it all the way through the process and thinking about deafness from a deaf person's point of view.".

"I really hope we are now starting to see more deaf representation," Charlie said.

Casualty has undeniably delivered a first in mainstream television tonight – allowing deaf representation to be firmly at the forefront behind the camera as well as in front of it.