EastEnders star Kellie Bright is on TV tonight, though not in her soap role as Linda Carter.

The star is hosting a new Panorama episode titled ‘Autism, School and Families on the Edge’ and focusing on special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Airing tonight at 8.30pm on BBC One, the one-off documentary will see Bright, who’s a mother to an autistic son, meet parents of autistic children who have been fighting to get the right education for their kids.

“You might know me as EastEnders‘ Linda Carter but I’m also a mum to my autistic son. He’s also dyslexic and has ADHD,” Bright wrote for BBC.com.

“It took months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to try to get the right education for him. At times, it felt like a battle.

“That is why I wanted to make this film for Panorama, so I could meet other families who were going through the same thing, and speak to teachers, councils and the government about how Send children are educated in England.”

Filmed over the course of six months, the documentary sees Bright meet three families who are applying to their councils for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This is a legally binding document which says where a child goes to school and what extra support they need.

“My husband and I spent hours filling in the forms to request an EHCP and many families find the process very frustrating,” she noted.

The documentary will touch upon the “crisis in funding” for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and how the government is planning to intervene.

“Kellie learns that a crisis in funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities is contributing to financial trouble for many local authorities and that the government is promising reform,” the synopsis reads.

Still a member of the EastEnders cast, Bright has taken a break from the soap after her character Linda sold The Queen Vic and left for a world cruise with her two youngest kids.