# Born to Be Different

Born to Be Different is a British documentary series on Channel 4, which follows the lives of six disabled children who were born in the millennium. Series 10 began in the UK on 26 March 2020.

## Children

* William Davis – lives with tuberous sclerosis, which causes him to have autism and epilepsy. He passed away in 2023.
* Hamish McLean – has dwarfism
* Zoe Frew – has arthrogryposis
* Shelbie Williams – has trisomy 9, which has caused her to be severely disabled and who died in 2019
* Emily Speirs – has spina bifida
* Nathan Christie – has Down syndrome

## Overview

| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| 1 | 1 | 2003 (2003) | 2003 (2003) |
| 2 | 1 | 2004 (2004) | 2004 (2004) |
| 3 | 1 | 2005 (2005) | 2005 (2005) |
| 4 | 3 | 2007 (2007) | 2007 (2007) |
| 5 | 2 | 2009 (2009) | 2009 (2009) |
| 6 | 2 | 2010 (2010) | 2010 (2010) |
| 7 | 3 | 2011 (2011) | 2011 (2011) |
| 8 | 2 | 2012 (2012) | 2012 (2012) |
| 9 | 2 | 2016 (2016) | 2016 (2016) |

### Series 1 (2003)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2003 (2003) |
| The first episode looks at the first year of the children's lives. |||

### Series 2 (2004)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2004 (2004) |
| The second episode looks at the children's lives as they reach two years of age. |||

### Series 3 (2005)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2005 (2005) |
| The third series follows the children as they turn three. |||

### Series 4 (2007)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2007 (2007) |
| The fourth series looks at the children's lives between the ages of three and four. |||

### Series 5 (2009)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2009 (2009) |
| The fifth series focuses on the children at the ages of six and seven. |||

### Series 6 (2010)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2010 (2010) |
| The sixth series focuses on the children at the ages of eight and nine. |||

### Series 7 (2011)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2011 (2011) |
| The seventh series follows the lives of the children between the ages of nine and ten. |||

### Series 8 (2012)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2012 (2012) |
| This series follows the children as the turn eleven and start secondary school. |||

### Series 9 (2016)

| Series | Director | Original air date |
| Anna Stickland | 2016 (2016) |
| The ninth series looks the lives of the children at the age of sixteen. |||

## Critical reception

Reviewing the show, TimesOnline commented with irony that "by the end of [it], we had sobered up entirely. A queasy feeling followed, of being pulled morally up and down and in and out until you didn't know whom you pitied or why. The sign, in other words, of excellent television."
In its review, The London Paper expressed concerns about the voyeuristic approach of the show and asks: "what is to be gained from watching harried mothers breaking down, and children being constantly reminded of their problems by the camera crew? [...] Let’s just hope Channel 4's intentions were in the right place."
The music for the series was composed by Julian Stewart Lindsay.