The World According to Grandpa to Feature First Deaf Character

The World According to Grandpa, currently airing on Channel 5’s preschool strand Milkshake!, is set to feature its first Deaf character in an episode debuting December 11.

The new character, Alfred, wears a visible hearing aid and uses British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate. Milkshake! and Saffron Cherry Productions worked closely with sign-language experts and Red Bee Media to ensure the BSL was translated correctly into animated form.

The World According to Grandpa centers on a grandpa and his four inquisitive grandchildren, who have many questions for him. Each question provokes a magical tale of “stuff and nonsense.” In the episode featuring Alfred, “Why is the Sky Blue?,” grandpa tells a tale about King Spendlove who was bored of the pink sky and a boy (Alfred) who had a great idea on how to change it.

“It’s crucial that all young viewers tuning into their favorite shows feel they are seen and reflected on-screen, which is why at Milkshake! we are so committed to embracing and incorporating disabilities into our programming,” said Louise Bucknole, general manager and VP of kids and family for the U.K. and Ireland at Paramount Global. “I’m so excited that we are bringing a new dimension to our award-winning show, and I hope that Alfred will be the first of many deaf characters to use BSL in animation form on-screen.”

Rima Sen of Saffron Cherry Productions added, “We were very excited by the possibility of introducing a Deaf character to the show. Chris Heath (creator and writer) reworked the script, and the production team approached the National Deaf Children’s society and the British Deaf Association to seek advice. They then worked with the animation team at Flix, as well as the BSL experts at Sign Solutions and Red Bee to ensure that the signing worked for the Deaf community, as well as for the animators. It was an extremely rewarding process, and this episode is also going to be re-animated into Welsh sign language next year!”