By Jane Stone, chief signer on BBC TV show See Hear
When I first started signing on this show back in April 2002, it was a complete joke; stuck in some deaf and dumb scheduling backwater at about 1.30a.m on a Thursday, watched by only 150,000 unfortunately hearing or sight impaired viewers.
But as I occupied that bottom eighth of the screen with a potent cocktail of old school beauty, timeless grace and fast fingered sheer signing, it soon became apparent that things were changing.
In the years since, I've signed everything from reports on atrocities in Rwanda to interviews with Michael Caine, and it's surely no coincidence that as my onscreen time has increased, so have ratings by an impressive 20,000 viewers, while our slot has been bumped up the schedule by an incredible average of twenty five minutes earlier.
I've made this show what it is through the sheer majesty of my signing skills, and yet I'm still asked to occupy the same paltry amount of screen space that I did when I first started signing. The standard one eighth screen share agreement might be enough for some, your Judy Sheltons and Mark Boyds, but not for me. Call it a "sign" of the times, but I expect more.
I want at least one sixth screen time when I sign, or even the mythical one fifth that Mexican signer Jose Conchero enjoyed while signing a soap opera in 1994.
If my demands aren't met, I will walk. I've already had the Hollyoaks omnibus on the phone, saying they want to talk.
Just do the right thing.
TWEET THIS!
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