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I've been reading some interesting interviews regarding this story.
Coronation Street producer speaks out over Bethany's gang rape story and what happens next
Has this week's post-watershed timeslot given you more scope? Did you include things you wouldn't have done at 7.30pm?
"We did, but I was still very careful about what we should show. You've seen the three men file into the room, which is sinister as the door closes.
"There's also a moment where Bethany tries to get out and she says to Mel 'I'm in the wrong room', but Mel just closes the door on her. That's because, as we've established before, if it's not Bethany, it's going to be Mel. So Mel steps away from that situation.
"It was useful just to talk to the writers and the network about it, and say that when we did bring it to a point of the darkest drama, we did have this scope for a later timeslot.
"I also felt more comfortable thinking it was going to be a largely 9pm audience on the lines where Nathan was going through the numbers of men versus the number of girls who would be at the party. Mel asked if Bethany was ready for that and it was clear that she was going to be expected to have multiple partners that night. That was on the Monday, so we revealed there where we'd be taking the story.
"I don't think it's necessarily showing much more than we've done previously, though. We've always been careful with the imagery that we've shown – it's always been more suggested."
How do you think the cast have handled the story?
"We're so proud of Lucy Fallon (Bethany) and Chris Harper (Nathan) for what they've done. With Lucy in particular, the level of engagement that she's given in her performance from the get-go has just blown me away.
"There's been times when I've been mindful of what we've asked Lucy to bring to this, but every time I've asked her whether she's okay, the answer has been yes. There's a sense of Lucy doing it not just for herself, for the show and for the storyline, but she's also taken on the responsibility of voicing this for lots of people.
"It's been quite a humbling thing to see and to work with someone like Lucy who's brought so much to it, so I would like to publicly thank her for that."
What do you make of the recent criticism from some quarters that Neil being a policeman could deter viewers from coming forward?
"Certainly as this story progresses, we've worked hard to show that the police and those who support victims and survivors of this kind of abuse are in the main brilliant, highly trained, compassionate, professional, and will work very, very hard to get justice.
"There's a social and political side to this story as well as a dramatic side, and this was very much on the dramatic side of things. It can be challenging at times as a producer when you think: 'Do I want to show the police, who are in a position of responsibility, as having a bad apple in the barrel?' But I think you have to balance it by showing that in the main, overwhelmingly everyone else is caring and compassionate.
"What I like about that story is that not only does it serve as a dramatic twist and put extra pressure on Bethany, we've also got Craig in the mix, who is so idealistic. Neil is his mentor and Craig thinks he is great. Craig wants to be in the police because he thinks policemen are good. He wants to save the world and that's how he's going to do it, so I think we more than balance it.
"When you look at an episode in isolation, it's easy to be reactive and say 'that's a bad message', but you also have to look across the broader spectrum of episodes."
Lara, the other victim we saw this week, was very young. Was that a conscious decision?
"Yes. We will see Lara again. I'm happy to tell you that she is slightly older than she looks, but yes, that was a conscious decision. The casting department had a couple of options and we discussed them together. That was another 9pm decision, to introduce someone who was apparently underage who would, in real life, very much be a part of this circle.
"As an actress, we don't see her for very long, but she has such a haunted look. In a short time on screen, she makes a massive impact."
What's her history?
"Nathan has collected these girls as he has gone along, really. For me, this is a feminist story for young women who have issues with self-esteem, who have been knocked and bullied. We have seen Bethany on diet pills, addicted to exercise pills, being rejected and having a really tough time. Her self-esteem was through the floor and she is very vulnerable.
"In this situation, it's important to see that young women need support because there are dangers out there and they can be very susceptible to them.
"With the character of Mel – and we'll learn more about her later, too – she seems like she could be just quite a hard, evil character if you look at her quite reductively, especially when she closes that door on Bethany. But she's just damaged too and we will learn more about that."
What can you tell us about the Platts finding out and their reactions?
"It's Shona who shines the light on it and puts it into words of one syllable for them. She makes the pieces fall into place. They've already seen elements that are odd up until now, like when they went to the flat and found Bethany passed out and scantily-dressed, or when they were at a party and it was just blokes.
"They have known things were weird and amiss, but it's one of those things where you think: 'Never in a million years could my clever daughter be in this situation'. Sarah hasn't seen the wood for the trees.
"What's interesting about Sarah and Bethany is that the age gap is relatively small and Sarah has been through a lot herself, including being groomed online. I think Sarah operates under this illusion that she knows what's going on with Bethany because she's still young and has seen it all but actually, that's not true.
"Times move really quickly and children and young people hide things from their parents, either through fear or just because that's the way things have always been.
"You never really know until you stop, look, communicate and trust. It's about opening communication, talking, giving people safe places to talk and letting people know they will be listened to – that is absolutely key."
Will Gail and Audrey become more involved in the story?
"They will in terms of the family dynamic. Certainly once it's all been revealed, they will know what's happening. I think we do focus it largely on Bethany, Sarah, Gary and Craig, as well as the off-shoot with David and Shona. David will see a different side to Shona as she's a bit of a hero. David likes them complicated, as we know!"
What else can you tell us about what's coming up?
"A character who is useful for us in this story is Mary and the storyline that she set up at Christmas, where we learned that Mary had been raped when she was young and had this forgotten son. I think people might think we have forgotten about that storyline, but we always knew that we wanted to build a bond between Bethany and Mary, which you've seen us gently seed in over recent weeks.
"It's that outside voice, I think. Bethany trusts Mary in a different kind of way, so maybe Mary can help break down some of those walls."
How did you get into the mindset of Nathan when you scripted him?
"To be honest, that's a lot of writer collaboration. I can think of certain lines of dialogue that have come from different writers in the room that have built this monster, basically.
"When we first storylined Nathan, we wanted him to have some charm and for Bethany to see him as a superhero – a person who scooped her up literally and saved her life. We didn't want any clichés on how he looks – he should look like a bit of a catch, so that you can imagine if he went by a school, that teenage girls would notice him as he drove past in his nice car.
"You do read about cases, but often these offer far more information on victims and survivors than they do perpetrators, so I have to say it was more about building him in the writers' room rather than through research. Ultimately, he's just a terrible, selfish, greedy man.
"Chris has played him amazingly. The subtleties of when he is confusing Bethany were very much built in the writers' room. Debbie Oates scripted that with lines like 'you don't know how much it turns me on to see you with other men'.
"It's just baffling for Bethany, it's the first person she has slept with and it confuses her so much, especially with Mel telling her that it's just sex and she's looking too much into it. So she doesn't feel like she can ask any more questions.
"There were also the scenes of Nathan burning Bethany with a cigarette and then apologising. That's his way of marking his territory. But I do think Chris has played it with subtlety and really showed the coercive control and systematically isolating her from her friends and family."
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Bethany?
"Yes, I definitely want to keep Lucy central to the show, as she has shone through this and Tina O'Brien has just been amazing too. We have some plans. What is nice about where this storyline goes is that when the scales do fall from Bethany's eyes, and she does realise it's not right, she takes some power back.
"We see Bethany being active in saving herself rather than just being told. It's a story for feminists – I really wanted her to take some of that power back."
Coronation Street producer speaks out over Bethany's gang rape story and what happens next
Has this week's post-watershed timeslot given you more scope? Did you include things you wouldn't have done at 7.30pm?
"We did, but I was still very careful about what we should show. You've seen the three men file into the room, which is sinister as the door closes.
"There's also a moment where Bethany tries to get out and she says to Mel 'I'm in the wrong room', but Mel just closes the door on her. That's because, as we've established before, if it's not Bethany, it's going to be Mel. So Mel steps away from that situation.
"It was useful just to talk to the writers and the network about it, and say that when we did bring it to a point of the darkest drama, we did have this scope for a later timeslot.
"I also felt more comfortable thinking it was going to be a largely 9pm audience on the lines where Nathan was going through the numbers of men versus the number of girls who would be at the party. Mel asked if Bethany was ready for that and it was clear that she was going to be expected to have multiple partners that night. That was on the Monday, so we revealed there where we'd be taking the story.
"I don't think it's necessarily showing much more than we've done previously, though. We've always been careful with the imagery that we've shown – it's always been more suggested."
How do you think the cast have handled the story?
"We're so proud of Lucy Fallon (Bethany) and Chris Harper (Nathan) for what they've done. With Lucy in particular, the level of engagement that she's given in her performance from the get-go has just blown me away.
"There's been times when I've been mindful of what we've asked Lucy to bring to this, but every time I've asked her whether she's okay, the answer has been yes. There's a sense of Lucy doing it not just for herself, for the show and for the storyline, but she's also taken on the responsibility of voicing this for lots of people.
"It's been quite a humbling thing to see and to work with someone like Lucy who's brought so much to it, so I would like to publicly thank her for that."
What do you make of the recent criticism from some quarters that Neil being a policeman could deter viewers from coming forward?
"Certainly as this story progresses, we've worked hard to show that the police and those who support victims and survivors of this kind of abuse are in the main brilliant, highly trained, compassionate, professional, and will work very, very hard to get justice.
"There's a social and political side to this story as well as a dramatic side, and this was very much on the dramatic side of things. It can be challenging at times as a producer when you think: 'Do I want to show the police, who are in a position of responsibility, as having a bad apple in the barrel?' But I think you have to balance it by showing that in the main, overwhelmingly everyone else is caring and compassionate.
"What I like about that story is that not only does it serve as a dramatic twist and put extra pressure on Bethany, we've also got Craig in the mix, who is so idealistic. Neil is his mentor and Craig thinks he is great. Craig wants to be in the police because he thinks policemen are good. He wants to save the world and that's how he's going to do it, so I think we more than balance it.
"When you look at an episode in isolation, it's easy to be reactive and say 'that's a bad message', but you also have to look across the broader spectrum of episodes."
Lara, the other victim we saw this week, was very young. Was that a conscious decision?
"Yes. We will see Lara again. I'm happy to tell you that she is slightly older than she looks, but yes, that was a conscious decision. The casting department had a couple of options and we discussed them together. That was another 9pm decision, to introduce someone who was apparently underage who would, in real life, very much be a part of this circle.
"As an actress, we don't see her for very long, but she has such a haunted look. In a short time on screen, she makes a massive impact."
"Nathan has collected these girls as he has gone along, really. For me, this is a feminist story for young women who have issues with self-esteem, who have been knocked and bullied. We have seen Bethany on diet pills, addicted to exercise pills, being rejected and having a really tough time. Her self-esteem was through the floor and she is very vulnerable.
"In this situation, it's important to see that young women need support because there are dangers out there and they can be very susceptible to them.
"With the character of Mel – and we'll learn more about her later, too – she seems like she could be just quite a hard, evil character if you look at her quite reductively, especially when she closes that door on Bethany. But she's just damaged too and we will learn more about that."
What can you tell us about the Platts finding out and their reactions?
"It's Shona who shines the light on it and puts it into words of one syllable for them. She makes the pieces fall into place. They've already seen elements that are odd up until now, like when they went to the flat and found Bethany passed out and scantily-dressed, or when they were at a party and it was just blokes.
"They have known things were weird and amiss, but it's one of those things where you think: 'Never in a million years could my clever daughter be in this situation'. Sarah hasn't seen the wood for the trees.
"What's interesting about Sarah and Bethany is that the age gap is relatively small and Sarah has been through a lot herself, including being groomed online. I think Sarah operates under this illusion that she knows what's going on with Bethany because she's still young and has seen it all but actually, that's not true.
"Times move really quickly and children and young people hide things from their parents, either through fear or just because that's the way things have always been.
"You never really know until you stop, look, communicate and trust. It's about opening communication, talking, giving people safe places to talk and letting people know they will be listened to – that is absolutely key."
Will Gail and Audrey become more involved in the story?
"They will in terms of the family dynamic. Certainly once it's all been revealed, they will know what's happening. I think we do focus it largely on Bethany, Sarah, Gary and Craig, as well as the off-shoot with David and Shona. David will see a different side to Shona as she's a bit of a hero. David likes them complicated, as we know!"
What else can you tell us about what's coming up?
"A character who is useful for us in this story is Mary and the storyline that she set up at Christmas, where we learned that Mary had been raped when she was young and had this forgotten son. I think people might think we have forgotten about that storyline, but we always knew that we wanted to build a bond between Bethany and Mary, which you've seen us gently seed in over recent weeks.
"It's that outside voice, I think. Bethany trusts Mary in a different kind of way, so maybe Mary can help break down some of those walls."
"To be honest, that's a lot of writer collaboration. I can think of certain lines of dialogue that have come from different writers in the room that have built this monster, basically.
"When we first storylined Nathan, we wanted him to have some charm and for Bethany to see him as a superhero – a person who scooped her up literally and saved her life. We didn't want any clichés on how he looks – he should look like a bit of a catch, so that you can imagine if he went by a school, that teenage girls would notice him as he drove past in his nice car.
"You do read about cases, but often these offer far more information on victims and survivors than they do perpetrators, so I have to say it was more about building him in the writers' room rather than through research. Ultimately, he's just a terrible, selfish, greedy man.
"Chris has played him amazingly. The subtleties of when he is confusing Bethany were very much built in the writers' room. Debbie Oates scripted that with lines like 'you don't know how much it turns me on to see you with other men'.
"It's just baffling for Bethany, it's the first person she has slept with and it confuses her so much, especially with Mel telling her that it's just sex and she's looking too much into it. So she doesn't feel like she can ask any more questions.
"There were also the scenes of Nathan burning Bethany with a cigarette and then apologising. That's his way of marking his territory. But I do think Chris has played it with subtlety and really showed the coercive control and systematically isolating her from her friends and family."
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Bethany?
"Yes, I definitely want to keep Lucy central to the show, as she has shone through this and Tina O'Brien has just been amazing too. We have some plans. What is nice about where this storyline goes is that when the scales do fall from Bethany's eyes, and she does realise it's not right, she takes some power back.
"We see Bethany being active in saving herself rather than just being told. It's a story for feminists – I really wanted her to take some of that power back."
