Shola Lee

1 week ago | bbc.com | Shola Lee

How 'deaf rage' inspired groundbreaking sign language thrillerGetty Images/Ben MontgomeryWriter William Mager spoke to the BBC about how "deaf rage" and 70s thrillers inspired his new series Reunion"Every day, as a deaf person, you're reminded of your deafness," says William Mager, writer of new BBC thriller Reunion. These reminders can range from having to face medical appointments with no available interpreter to being excluded from important decisions about your own life, he says.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Shola Lee

I can't justify my teenage shoplifting, says Stacey DooleyBBC/Little Dooley/Daniel HarrisonStacey Dooley spent time with retail workers who experience shoplifting first handAre we turning into a nation of shoplifters? That's the question Stacey Dooley asks in her latest documentary. 
The presenter reveals she herself shoplifted as a teenager, as part of the BBC programme on the rise in retail theft in the UK. 
Dooley explains she would steal eyeliner and mascara at around 13 or 14 years old.

2 months ago | bbc.com | Shola Lee

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Gill Sayell was just 14 years old when she competed in Copa 71 - an unofficial women's football World CupFormer England and Liverpool goalkeeper David James has painted 'lost Lioness' Gill Sayell for the BBC's Extraordinary Portraits series. Here is her story. "I had to pretend to be a boy."Gill Sayell remembers her first football match clearly.

2 months ago | bbc.com | Shola Lee |Samuel Spencer

Gay kiss 'furore' to domestic violence: How EastEnders shattered taboosShola Lee & Samuel SpencerBBCEastEnders characters Colin (Lord Michael Cashman, left) and Barry (Gary Hailes, right) took part in the first kiss between two gay men on a British soapOver its 40-year run, EastEnders hasn't just been plot twists, emotions and gripping "doof doof" cliffhangers. It's also tackled social issues head-on, its stars say.

2 months ago | bbc.com | Samuel Spencer |Shola Lee

How EastEnders was made, from 'doof doofs' to Angie and DenSamuel Spencer & Shola LeeBBCIn the early research stages of EastEnders, multiple cities were considered for the new soap, from Manchester to London to Birmingham, according to BBC archive documents. But one audience report recommended that a serial set in a working-class neighbourhood in London would probably have the most widespread appeal.