Peter’s friends
Chris Gascoyne, who plays Peter Barlow in Coronation Street, talks about being at the centre of a very different storyline and why he is looking forward to doing crowd scenes again
Peter Barlow discovers that his surgeon, who performed his liver transplant, is involved in some dodgy medical practices and so he takes it upon himself to get involved in a way that can not be healthy.
How is life going for Peter a er his transplant operation?
He’s doing really well these days: he’s healthy, he’s happy, he’s lucky to be alive and he knows that. So, as we start this story with his surgeon,
orne, he’s in a really good place, he’s just happy that he’s still there and everything is as good as it can be.
Do you enjoy playing Peter in this happier place?
I’m really enjoying playing out di erent sorts of stories within the family and now this story is something totally di erent to anything I’ve played in the past. A er all the drama with Peter’s drinking, I like how this is a continuation of the story, but in a completely di erent way.
What did you think when you read the script about Peter, Dr orne and his surgery?
I had no clue that something like this would ever happen really. It’s totally shocking that surgeons would ever play games during the course of their work. It’s an interesting one because on the one hand, orne is a brilliant surgeon who has saved Peter’s life, but on the other hand, it’s the fact that he feels that Peter being an alcoholic changed the attitude of
orne. I think that’s the real trigger for him.
Does that take Peter back to a place of no self-worth, when he felt he didn’t deserve the transplant?
It makes him feel that he’s worthless. is guy is very privileged and yet he chose to play with his life. ey’re similar ages but they’ve had very di erent life experiences and it makes it all become very personal between these two men. One who’s had a very privileged life and then there’s Peter, who hasn’t had that life at all.
Does the situation become a power play between them as Peter realises he can take
orne on?
Yes, there are points where it is a little bit like a game of chess, but then orne holds all the cards really and Peter, as we know, can be hot-headed when he can’t express himself or things aren’t going his way. When orne refuses to even try and understand him, that’s when Peter starts to revert to what he knows, when he starts to get angry and starts saying some ridiculous things. I understand it from Peter’s point of view; this man was playing with his life, but he’s just digging another hole for himself. We see him lose his temper in the restaurant with orne and as soon as he does, he knows that he’s ghting a losing battle.
How is it to work with Dominic Ma am, who plays orne?
He’s been brilliant. We’ve got on really well. e mistake would have been for an actor to just play a ash surgeon, but he’s played it so well. He comes at you with a smile and an understanding attitude; he’s got all the words, whereas Peter doesn’t have his vocabulary and that’s where he’s at a loss. Dominic’s been really, really good in it. e scene in the restaurant was like a chess game. When Peter plays him at his own game, when he’s in the right space, he can do it back, but when orne goes further, when he starts to use all his big words and become condescending to Peter, then Peter can’t cope with that.
Do you think that this will set Peter back with his recovery, bringing back some old ghosts?
Yes, it’s started him on that path again. It’s con rming this self-loathing that he has laying underneath. It’s not an easy thing to live with, he is troubled and when he gets like that and stops communicating with people, that’s when I don’t know where he’s going to go. What I do know is that the place he’s in at the moment is not a very good one. He starts to isolate himself and when he’s not listening to Carla or his family and he’s on his own mission, that’s when it gets interesting.
How are the family dynamics in the everextending Barlow household?
I’m just really enjoying playing something that’s totally different for Peter. It’s the seed of a storyline that then grows into something else
I really enjoy that, I’d like more scenes with them all together in the house, where all the Barlows are involved. Hopefully, now we’re coming out of COVID, we will start to have those scenes again, with more people in that mix. For now, I’m just really enjoying playing something that’s totally di erent for Peter. It’s the seed of a storyline that then grows into something else. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this pans out. We go from just one little strand here and one little thing that’s happened, to becomes just the tip of an iceberg. It’s really interesting.