Only dis connect

Ouch!, the BBC's disability web pages, are well known for their full-on, unapologetic and often quirky approach to their subject. Kelly Mullan reviews a new video project that's just gone live

The "tag-team talk show" Dis Connected operates like Radio Four's Chain Reaction: each week a famous disabled person interviews another disabled celebrity and the interviewee goes on to be the next week's interviewer.

The chain so far is talk show presenter Trisha Goddard, children's TV presenter Cerrie Burnell, Tracy Beaker actor Cara Readle, TV presenter Gail Porter, barrister John Horan, Mystery Jets front man Blaine Harrison, Paralympian and peer Tanni Grey-Thompson and veteran campaigner Baroness [Jane] Campbell.

Producer Kate Ansell explained the thinking behind this choice of talk­ing heads. "Disability is not an uncontested term," she says, "and we wanted to explore what it means for different people, so we went to people who were on the radar for one thing or another, like Trisha and Gail who aren't sure if they see themselves as disabled but are willing to talk about it.

"I thought it would be interesting to get people with invisible disabilities like long-term mental illness talking to people with phys­ical disabilities about what it means to be disabled. I hope this'll get people talking about disability in a wider context."

It's an intimate and engaging format. The celebs seem excited to be meeting each other, and seeing them star-struck is endearing: "I used to watch your show all the time when I was unemployed" says Cerrie Burnell to Trisha Goddard, and Blaine Harrison admits he used to have a poster of Gail Porter on his wall.

The participants take a thoughtful and reflective approach, and egos don't get in the way, with the exception of Cara Readle who didn't seem to ask any questions or want to talk about anything broader than her own career.

There are some candid revelations. Trisha Goddard says she was initially angry to be labelled as disabled but has come round to the idea; John Horan says he had a patronising attitude to disabled athletes before he became disabled; and Baroness Campbell says she loves power!

Kate Ansell is rightly pleased with the series.

"It was an experiment, getting disabled people together in a room to see what happens. The worry that kept me awake at night was that we'd get two people together and there'd be silence but everyone found common ground and difference."

•See: bbc.co.uk/ouch