Jim Roberts : Legends of Welsh Sport
BBC Cymru Wales
Film & TV
From a hospital bed to a Paralympic podium.
When BBC Wales came looking for new subjects for their Legends of Welsh Sport series we had the answer in the form of Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby athlete Jim Roberts.
In this real-life underdog story, Jim’s life took an unexpected turn when he lost both of his legs to meningitis during his time at university. Overcoming this loss, a period of depression and even a near-fatal cardiac arrest, Jim came back fighting – starting to play Wheelchair Rugby and managing to earn a place in the Great British team.
Over the years Jim became a driving force within the team, fostering a new attitude and setting the team on a path to a Paralympic final in the Tokyo games of 2021. No European team has ever managed to medal in the Paralympics, and Team GB are now in the final against the Goliaths of the sport – USA. Can Jim and the team pull together and make history? Or will the pressure of their first Paralympic final get to them?
The finished film weaves interviews, archive footage and reconstruction to cleverly guide the audience through years of Jim’s life right up to that fateful Paralympic final. As part of the production of this film we prioritised diverse perspectives, working with talented people within the disabled community as assistant producers and researchers to make sure both our production practices and storytelling decisions best represented and accommodated people with disabilities.