Channel 4’s ‘Superhumans’ campaign was hugely influential, but a decade on, some disabled people pointed

out we had inadvertently created a new disability stereotype: sports superhero. So the most powerful thing we could do was rip our most iconic campaign in two. This year, instead of just presenting the athletes as ‘super’, we wanted to show their human side: Super. Human. Because what sets these athletes apart is not their disability, but the human qualities of obsession, competition and sacrifice that they take to the next level: To Be A Paralympian There’s Got To Be Something Wrong With You.

Channel 4 is a public service broadcaster with a unique remit to be a disruptive force and give a voice to under-represented groups. It has had the rights to the Paralympic Games since 2012 and revolutionised broadcasting of the event. ‘It’s Rude Not to Stare’ is a twist on the English language phrase ‘it’s rude to stare’ – often taught to children to not look at those different from themselves.

Ali Jawad’s doctor opens a medicine cabinet labelled CROHNS in front of him unleashing a deluge of pills. A private pharmacy of pillboxes streaming open in a cascading wave descending us into a nightmarish world…

Cut to David Smith looking upwards as thousands of Boccia balls rain down from the heavens.

Cut to the all too familiar sight of Boris Johnson behind the coronavirus lectern in Downing Street, but he speaks in time to the music

‘You might as well quit’

A snap of the fingers, a ring of a bell, a staccato segue from David, a tear of lycra, a scream from Jody.

-- a grid montage of battered hands, feet, skin and a bloody nose

-- an x-ray supercut of fractures, sprains, white cell counts, interrupted by a --

– lycra shredded by splinters – a bruise manifesting like an inkblot across skin.

--rrrrrrrrip – of wax on skin as Jody smiles sadistically.

SUPER: To be a Paralympian, there’s got to be something wrong with you.

We see an avalanche of heroic displays by our athletes. Rising to the occasion --

Years condensed to seconds on the cusp of competition as we churn through –

‘Put him in the ring, Joe /Chicken a la carte / Let me have a wing, Joe / Tearing him apart…’

-- a confident Kadeena Cox smiling for that Instagram selfie in the mirror --

-- Bzzzz - Barber shaves a mohican into David Smith's hair.

-- Sparks - The team welder repairing wheelchairs.

-- Ali’s chalk coated fingers clasp the weight lift bar --

-- Ellie powerfully dives into the pool.

-- In lighter moment, Jody and his daughter cycle past on a squeaky tandem --

-- Kylie in a collision of chairs, holding her own --

-- Jordanne unleashing a wicked forehand before…

The title appears over image

SUPER. HUMAN.

…finally we land on David Smith’s cool, calm focus.

His boccia ball smashing the word ‘super’ into a thousand pieces leaving HUMAN on screen.

SUPER: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Coming soon to Channel

The sound of the stadium swells, chanting the end of the track, reaching a deafening pitch.