Sitting on a toilet, frowning, Freya (Kyla Harris), a thirtysomething artist and wheelchair user, is having trouble with her bowels. Donning a blue glove and lubricating her finger, Jo (Elena Saurel), Freya’s estranged best friend and new personal assistant, offers to lend a hand. Within seconds, she is bent over, attempting to stifle a bile reflux. “Are you gagging?” asks Freya, mortified. “This is so humiliating!” Bending over in apology, Jo gamely pulls down her pants. “Put your finger in my ass!” she cries. “For equality’s sake!”
I don’t know if this is the first time anal stimulation for constipation has been broadcast on British television, but then I don’t suppose anyone has been keeping a record. That this is a scene in the BBC’s newest disabled-led comedy, rather than a particularly rough episode of Casualty, makes it what a press release might describe as “groundbreaking”. I would call it very funny.
