Justin aimed to get revenge on what was meant to be the happiest day of Daisy’s life (Picture: ITV)
Coronation Street fans have been left horrified by traumatic and violent scenes which saw Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) left brutally injured in an acid attack.
Opinions have been divided after the soap announced that stalker Justin (Andrew Still) would target Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) in the attack, after being rejected and reported by her.
On her wedding day, Daisy was confronted by sick Justin, but as he launched the corrosive substance, Ryan intervened and was left in agony.
The episode focused on the aftermath of the attack, with Ryan left badly burned and a terrified Daisy trying to minimise the damage by soaking him with cold water in the shower.
His shrill screams will be long etched into the memories of viewers, with the topical episode leaving a lasting impression.
Many rightly praised the raw performances of Ryan Prescott and Charlotte Jordan.
However, many felt that the very graphic scenes were a step too far for the pre-watershed soap, previously known for its warm and humorous characters and stories.
The show had controversially chosen to conceal the identity of the acid attack victim, preserving it as a ‘shock twist’ of sorts, in an awareness raising story that probably didn’t need a shock.
However, there’s no denying the need for Ryan to have a story to get his teeth into, something which the actor was more than enthusiastic to embrace.
‘It’s something gritty for Ryan, I was really looking forward to exploring something different for him,’ he told Metro.co.uk. ‘It’s something of real substance and that’s great for me as an actor.’
He added: ‘Iain [MacLeod, show producer] called me when I was on holiday. I didn’t really know what to expect, he said it would be something big for Ryan and then I just remember being so shocked.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘I had no idea it would be something so gritty because Ryan is usually in the more humorous elements of the show, to have something that serious.
‘I was excited, to be honest.’
And the actor confirmed a long term aftermath following the attack.
‘It’ll change his life forever,’ he declared. It will change the way he interacts with the world and the recovery.
The difficulty within thew parameters of soap is to show some kind of reality that comes with the longevity of what it means to be an acid attack survivor. The recovery period is so long, if not lifelong.
More: Trending
‘It’s psychotherapy, physiotherapy for many years if not the rest of your life. PTSD, trauma therapy, learning the simple things of dealing with people looking at you in the street.
‘There’s a whole phase of trying to accept that people are going to react differently to you now. Your face is the first thing you look at when you get up in the morning and look in the mirror.
‘It’s your first means of communication, the thing you most readily identify with yourself. When that changes, everything changes.
<div class=”colour-box-lighten-20 colour-9 metro-poll is-clickable” data-question=”Is an acid attack too far for Coronation Street?” data-option1=”No, drama is what soaps are for” data-option2=”Too much for me but the acting was sublime” data-option3=”I am switching off” data-url=”https://api.metro.co.uk/polls/v2/” ata-social-proof=”” newsletter=”category
