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Disney+ has fallen in love with Ralph & Katie.

In a deal unveiled on the eve of international TV market MIPCOM, Disney+ picked up rights across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea), excluding the U.K., for the BBC One dramatic comedy about a newlywed couple with Down Syndrome.

The six-part, half-hour series, a spinoff of the BBC’s hit Autism drama The A Word, premiered in the U.K. on Oct. 5 to rave reviews. Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy star as the eponymous newlyweds Ralph and Katie, in characters first created for The A Word, which is the British adaptation of Yellow Peppers — the ground-breaking hit Israeli family drama written and created by Keren Margalit for Keshet Broadcasting.

ITV Studios and Keshet U.K. co-produced Ralph & Katie in association with Tiger Aspect for BBC One. The A Word is a...

Centred on a chaotic family coming to terms with an autism diagnosis, the Israeli comedy-drama “Yellow Peppers” never aired on British television, but it’s had a pronounced influence on British TV schedules over the past decade. First, it begat Peter Bowker’s direct adaptation “The A Word,” which over three series relocated several of its predecessor’s storylines to a picturesque Lake District setting, achieving the holy-grail combo of excellent reviews and high ratings for the BBC before finding a transatlantic home on Sundance TV.

Now “The A Word” generates its own variation in “Ralph & Katie,” a six-part spin-off charting the further adventures of soccer-mad Ralph (Leon Harrop) and his baker beloved Katie (Sarah Gordy). Noteworthy as characters with Down’s syndrome played by actors with Down’s syndrome, these lovebirds first won hearts during a third-series subplot on “The A Word,” moving in together against the advice of their overprotective,...

BBC One’s The A Word spin-off Ralph & Katie, which was created by a group of disabled writers overseen by Peter Bowker, has entered production in Manchester and the Lake District.

The six-parter from ITV Studios, Keshet Productions and Tiger Aspect, which follows the two beloved A-Word characters played by Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy, has also unveiled cast including Gogglebox narrator Craig Cash, Dylan Brady (Get Even), Jamie Marie Leary (Traces), Sam Retford (Screw) and Daniel Cerqueira (Pennyworth). Returning actors from Bowker’s The A Word include Pooky Quesnel, Nigel Betts and Matt Greenwood.

The groundbreaking show is the UK’s first to feature an all-disabled writers’ room, with five writers overseen by World On Fire creator Bowker.

A program to give disabled people in the North West of England access to the show’s production will run...

A spin-off of The A Word has been ordered by BBC, which will air on BBC One in the UK. The spin-off will focus on a couple as they deal with the challenges of being newlyweds while living with Down's Syndrome.

Deadline revealed more about the plot of Ralph and Katie, which may air on (which runs The A Word) if it arrives in the US:

“The series follows Ralph, played by Leon Harrop, and Katie, played Sarah Gordy, as they embark on the biggest adventure of their lives, having just had the wedding of the year. Each 30-minute episode features a different story focusing on the domestic challenges faced by the newlyweds – challenges faced by all newlyweds, but with the added fact that they have Down’s Syndrome.”

Peter Bowker also said more about the...

A spin-off of The A Word and a con-artist thriller from Chernobyl producer Sister are two of the latest dramas ordered by British public broadcaster the BBC.

Both projects will air on flagship network BBC One but what is more remarkable about the pair of orders is that both involve emerging writers and in the case of The A Word spin-off, disabled writers.

Ralph and Katie focuses on two of the characters from Peter Bowker’s The A Word.

The series follows Ralph, played by Leon Harrop, and Katie, played Sarah Gordy, as they embark on the biggest adventure of their lives, having just had the wedding of the year. Each 30-minute episode features a different story focusing on the domestic challenges faced by the newlyweds – challenges faced by all newlyweds, but with the added fact that they have Down’s Syndrome.

Written by Bowker with new and emerging disabled writers,...