Corrie’s suicide plot to ‘save lives’
CORONATION Street is to highlight the issue of male suicide in a hard-hitting storyline which sees factory boss Aidan Connor take his own life.
In heartbreaking scenes to be screened next week, viewers will witness Johnny Connor’s devastation as he discovers his son’s lifeless body in the bathroom of his flat.
The dramatic story comes as the show faces mounting criticism over its increasingly “dark” plots.
In recent months viewers have seen David Platt drugged and raped by a male “friend” and vicar Billy Mayhew hooked on heroin.
Both Pat Phelan’s murderous exploits and Bethany Platt’s sexual exploitation stories generated hundreds of complaints to broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
But outgoing producer Kate Oates yesterday defended the latest storyline. She said: “Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in this country. With 84 men taking their lives each week, we quite simply can’t afford to not talk about it.
Family
“Aidan’s story is designed to give people who hide their feelings of desperation a chance to start a conversation, letting someone know what they’re going through.
“We want to assure anyone who feels suicidal that there is always someone who wants to listen, whether a friend, family member or one of the brilliant charities we have been working with.
“We want to tell people that however bleak they are feeling, there is always another way.”
Viewers will last see Aidan on screen on Monday, May 7, when he visits former girlfriend Eva Price at the cottage where she is living after giving birth to their baby Susie.
He then attends a family party at the Rovers Return. His final emotional scene sees him in tears back at his flat alone. No element of the suicide will be shown on screen.
Johnny makes the devastating discovery at the beginning of an hour-long episode on May 9.
Actor Shayne Ward, who has played Aidan for the past three years, said he was honoured to have been trusted with the story.
He said: “Aidan is an ‘everyman’ figure, he is someone men can identify with, which is important in telling this story. We hope anyone who recognises something of themselves in Aidan, will realise they can talk about how they’re feeling.
“Talking could have helped Aidan turn his life around. It could have brought him relief from what he was going through. Suicide is a very permanent response to what are usually temporary problems.”
Shayne, the writers and production team worked closely with charities the Samaritans and CALM to ensure the story was handled sensitively and realistically.
It was announced last month that producer Kate Oates would be leaving after three years at the helm. During that time the show has seen increased audience figures and won praise for tackling important social issues, but it has also come under fire for featuring bleak and violent stories pre-watershed.
But Simon Gunning, chief of the charity CALM, which campaigns to reduce the suicide rate among men praised the show’s latest storyline. He said: “Three in every four suicides are male.
“Working with Coronation Street has allowed us to engage a huge audience in the devastating effect of suicide, while providing a platform to highlight the help that is available for those in need of support.”
A media adviser from the Samaritans said the charity felt it was important to become involved.
She said: “We were really pleased that Coronation Street got in touch with us right at the start to work with us on the storyline. They got in touch before anything was written because they felt it was really important to tell this story for all the right reasons and they knew it was important to work with experts.
“What Coronation Street have done is built in lots of important, helpful messages, showing the devastation that’s caused to families and the complexity of suicide.
“The message that comes out of the episodes is that if you are struggling you need to talk about it.”
You can call the Samaritans free on 116 123.