Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) has suffered hearing loss on EastEnders, and the young man has been struggling to cope with this new change to his way of life.
After a head injury he sustained at the infamous boat party, it became obvious that he was struggling to hear and communicate with others.
Ben has had a hard time coming to terms with this further hearing loss, but, with his operation coming up, will his condition be forever?
Will Ben be deaf forever?
We don’t know exactly how long this storyline will go on for, but we do know that it will be a long one.
As part of this plotline, Rose Ayling-Ellis is joining the cast.
Rose is a deaf actress who will play a new character named Frankie – she will be the first deaf actress to have appeared in the soap in its 35-year history.
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Charlie Swinbourne, part of the show’s writing team who pitched the idea of the storyline, said: ‘Creating a storyline and a character for EastEnders has been a lifelong dream of mine, so it’s been an incredible experience to work with the EastEnders team over the last few months.
‘Being deaf myself, and a fan of the show from an early age, I’ve always looked out for Ben Mitchell’s character because he was the one who wore hearing aids!’
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EastEnders showbosses worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society to develop the storyline and make it as true to life as possible.
Rosie Eggleston leads the National Deaf Children’s Society’s work with young deaf people. She said: ‘From my work with so many deaf young people up and down the country, I’ve heard time and time again how demoralising it is for them to never see themselves, their stories or their life experiences reflected in the TV programmes they love.
‘This major new storyline on EastEnders could turn that on its head, and it’s an important step towards making deaf people’s lives more visible and better understood. It’s been brilliant to put the team at EastEnders in touch with deaf young people because they’ve been able to hear first-hand what it’s like to grow up deaf in the UK today. For the UK’s 50,000 deaf children and young people, representation like this is just so important.’
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