‘Horrific’ Coronation Street killer returns – with another violent villain

The siblings both return (Picture: ITV)

Damon Hay (Ciaran Griffiths) heads back to Coronation Street as 2024 begins but this time, the storyline will see him interact with his criminal brother Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor).

Harvey is currently behind bars after terrorising the street and killing Sam’s (Jude Riordan) mum Natasha.

When Damon was first introduced as Jacob’s (Jack James Ryan) father, it wasn’t long until we had confirmation he’s related to the drug-dealing murderer.

Following Sarah’s (Tina O’Brien) affair with Damon, upcoming episodes will look at whether she will be tempted by the gangster again, or if she’ll focus on reuniting with Adam (Sam Robertson).

But when Harvey gets involved and starts calling the shots from his prison cell, who will end up in danger?

‘It’s good to be back, I had a really great stint last time, I really enjoyed it and felt like I was finding my feet with the character and not feeling like the new boy anymore’, Ciaran said, reflecting on his return.

‘I feel a lot more comfortable now with my surroundings and the people I’m working with so yeah it’s good to be back, although the weather’s awful! I’m finding now that I can start to add my own little touches to him and really put my stamp on the character.

‘I had a really good scene in the Bistro the other day with the Platts where Damon’s meeting all the family, Mickey Jones was directing and he just let me do my kind of thing. Damon’s supposed to be making a good impression, trying to win Sarah back and he does really care about her but I thought how much would he really care about how much Gail likes him or not.

Harvey was last seen in 2022 (Picture: ITV)

He added: ‘He tries to be charming with them but clearly they don’t like him so I thought I’m just going to eat as obnoxiously as I can, out their backs up and I really enjoyed it, having that freedom with the character. It was a great scene, I had Sarah, then on one side the mother and the grandmother on the other, then David came in and Nick was there, so it’s a really good mix of different personalities.

‘I really enjoyed it, we had a right laugh filming it, it’s great working with all the Platts.’

Joining Ciaran for the chat was his new co-star Will. He was last seen playing Harvey back in 2022 and was thrilled to be asked to return.

‘I enjoy playing him even though he’s a baddie’, he said. ‘He has a way about him that I enjoy playing because it’s a challenge for me. I don’t get to play many characters like that, he’s probably the most villainous character I’ve ever played. I knew what I wanted to do with him so when they asked me to come back it was a straight yes. Obviously I wanted to make sure the storyline was something interesting for the audience because the reaction has always been good for Harvey, they seem to like him even though he’s a baddie.

‘People like to hate a baddie but at the same time he’s got a bit of charisma about him even though he’s horrendous, so yeah I was glad to come back. I think it’s interesting, he’s got a few scores to settle.’

The storyline between Damon and Harvey will be the first time we’ve seen the siblings on screen. Teasing their relationship, Will said:

‘There’s an interesting dynamic between them. Harvey’s mum told him that Damon had him beaten up and he took it quite personally and said wait till I get my hands on him, so Harvey’s glad to have that conversation. Damon’s denying it but Harvey knows what’s gone on and he’s letting Damon know he’s not forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten. Even family aren’t safe, you cross Harvey and he won’t forget, he’ll get his own back.

The siblings go head to head (Picture: ITV)

‘It might not be on him, it might be his friends or his family, he’ll hurt him somehow. That’s what’s so interesting, the tug of war between them. Harvey might be inside but he can still pull the strings from where he is.’

As the brothers go head to head, Will explained that whenever ‘Damon’s on the backfoot’, he goes for Harvey’s achilles heel – he mentions their mum.

‘We know from that scene with Sam that’s mentioning his mum. Their mum passed away when Harvey was young, he’s got a picture of her on his prison wall and after that conversation with Sam he wrecked his cell thinking about it’, he said.

This is the first time Harvey and Damon will appear on screen together (Picture: ITV)

‘That’s his weakness, he knows his mum wouldn’t be proud of him, but it’s too late and she’s not here. He can’t think about it, he can’t be weak in prison. Damon tries to send the ball back over the net by saying while you’re in here think of that but all that’s going to do is make Harvey go even deeper.

‘While he’s stuck in prison what he has got is his mind and he’s thinking if you’re going to hurt I’ll come at you, your friends, your loved ones, their kids, he doesn’t stop. It’s not going to make him happy but it’s all about getting even and making sure people respect because in prison that’s all you’ve got.’

Ciaran added: ‘There are some big, long scenes between them and I proper really enjoyed doing them with Will. It felt like something different, like those scenes really have a journey. They’re intense. Will’s a great actor, I like how in the zone he is with the character before you even go for a take, it makes you sharpen up and both get on it.’

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‘Harvey and Damon know each other so well they both think they can outwit each other. And because Damon’s outside, whereas Harvey’s inside, at first he thinks he’s got one up on him but he soon realises that it doesn’t really matter where Harvey is he can still pull strings.

‘It doesn’t matter whether he’s locked up or not, Harvey can still get to people, especially the people that Damon cares about the most.’

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This will be interesting!