Writer hits back over Ted ‘oddball’ description
THE writer of Line of Duty was yesterday forced to defend Ted Hastings calling a suspect with Down’s syndrome “the local oddball” – on World Down Syndrome Day.
Many viewers reacted with dismay when Ted (Adrian Dunbar) made the comment about Terry Boyle in Sunday’s episode, but writer Jed Mercurio said he aimed to portray “policing with some of its failings”. Terry is played by Tommy Jessop, 36, previously seen in series one when he was manipulated by a gang who stored a body in a freezer – now missing from his flat.
In a message to Mercurio regarding the “oddball” comment, viewer Laura Quentin said: “These are the sort of outdated attitudes we need to move away from.”
Others branded the term “appalling” and “poor form”.
Barnardo’s assistant director of children’s services, Michelle Dougan, tweeted that she was “really uncomfortable” with the language.
Staffordshire Police Chief Inspector John Owen said the term was “very poor”.
Mick Finnegan, a Royal College of Psychiatrists adviser, tweeted: “It doesn’t sit well with me. Language is key to acceptance and understanding.”
Mercurio said the comment was a direct quote from Barry George, the man convicted and later acquitted of the murder of TV host Jill Dando in 1999.
George said afterwards: “I was the easiest target. They could just say, ‘We’ve got the local oddball’.”
Mercurio, 55, went on: “‘Oddball’ has no connotation for learning difficulties. It describes a loner, eccentric.”
The BBC said: “Ted Hastings has never met Terry Boyle. The dialogue has no meaning or connotation that relates to the character’s disability.”