Note: This article contains discussion of suicide, which some readers may find upsetting.
Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has praised the show for cleverly interweaving David Platt and Aidan Connor's storylines.
David played a key role in Aidan's suicide episodes earlier this month, as the factory boss's tragedy inspired him to finally confide in someone about his rape ordeal.
When David learned what Aidan had done, he told his love interest Shona Ramsey about being raped by Josh Tucker – and how he considered taking his own life in the aftermath.
In a moving heart-to-heart, David told Shona: "I came so close. But I've told you and I love you so much. And if today's taught me anything it's that, thank God, I want to live."
Corrie's outgoing producer Kate Oates had always planned for David and Aidan's storylines to connect in this way, showing how talking during troubled times can help.
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Speaking to Digital Spy about the storyline, Jack revealed: "It was very clever. I always prefer Corrie when there are those interweaving stories. When we did the Richard Hillman story, there were a lot of people that it affected.
"In this week's Phelan episodes, it also seems like all the Street are involved in the story. It's always nice when, as a whole cast, we're all involved.
"In the Aidan story when he ended up taking his own life, that was a lightning bolt for David to wake up and say, 'Right, I'm going to do something about it, rather than suffer in silence'. So it was clever.
"There was a lot of upsetting stuff in that particular episode and David's character was the good coming out of it, because he decided that he was going to live."
Discussing David's rape ordeal, Jack continued: "I've had nice reactions from viewers. When people first heard about the story, on my Twitter I noticed everyone was kicking off about it, saying, 'It shouldn't be on TV, it's a family show, we shouldn't be allowed to see this'. And we didn't see it, did we? In the end we didn't see anything.
"I think Corrie have handled it very well. They've been very careful with the story, and I think people's opinions have changed. People have said: 'Actually it's good, it's been alright'. So I think they've liked it."
Jack added that it's important to keep the atmosphere light on set with his co-stars while exploring such difficult topics.
He laughed: "Someone came up to me over the weekend and said, 'Would you ever branch out, or go and try and other things?'
"I said: 'No, because I get to dick around at work. I get to piss around and it's fun. Then every now and again, we'll do a bit of acting. Then we'll just mess around for a bit longer in the green room!' There are a lot of antics on set."
Coronation Street airs at 9pm all this week on ITV.
We would encourage anyone who identifies with Aidan's story to reach out. Organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), and Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) also has helplines available from 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58 (nationwide) and 0808 802 58 58 (London) (www.thecalmzone.net/).
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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