Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks has detailed what lies ahead for teenager Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan), as his mental health continues to spiral.
Sam became the first person in Weatherfield to discover Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon) had been sexually abusing Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale). His strong moral compass meant Sam wasted no time in confronting them about it, but he didn’t expect just how brutal Megan would be in her attempt at keeping him quiet.
Megan proceeded to completely destroy Sam’s confidence, and also imply that even if he did speak up, no-one would believe his comments about her and Will.
Keeping this situation to himself, and being afraid to talk to someone, eventually caused a very stressed Sam to collapse on the cobbles. This led to him telling Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) about Megan. Opening up definitely provided some relief for Sam, but he then had another situation to deal with in the aftermath.
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As Will expressed his hatred towards Sam, he was also absorbing comments from Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan), who speculated that Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) was only being nice to Sam because he wanted information about Megan.
With his paranoia increasing even more, Sam has now started suffering auditory and visual hallucinations. At one point, he ran through the street, believing he was being chased by Will. Sam fell over and when he looked back, he was concerned to realise no-one was there.
The exploration of Sam’s mental health will continue in future episodes. Show boss Kate Brooks has confirmed they will highlight just how badly Megan’s manipulation has impacted Sam, but also what not being believed has done to him.
‘Getting him across the Megan story and having him be another victim of her manipulation felt like a really interesting way of telling the story’, she explained.
‘But as a result of that, his mental health has been really, really damaged by everything that’s happened – by the manipulation, by the fact that he wasn’t believed, by the fear that he felt every time he was with Megan.’
Kate added: ‘We’re going to tell a big mental health story with Sam, and he’s going to really, really struggle over the course of spring and early summer. It’s about his family realising, hopefully before it’s too late, that he’s in desperate need of help – and he’s really vulnerable.
‘It’s showcasing that Megan’s actions have not just directly impacted Will and the Driscolls, Sam’s also collateral damage.
‘People’s trust has been absolutely dismantled because of this woman’s perpetual lie.’
